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Haring devoted much time and work to producing public murals and sculptures, and his images appeared in some of the most visible and visited public spaces in the world. Among his many prominent projects, Haring broadcast his radiant baby image from the electronic billboard in New York's Times Square in 1982.
Shows at P.S. 122 and Club 57 added to the visibility Keith had gained through his subway drawings and street graffiti. Growing recognition of his work brought Keith more money and new opportunities, but it brought new pressures into his life as well.
| "As an art student and being sort of in the underground and having very precise and cynical ideas about the art world, the traditional art-dealer gallery represented a lot that I hated about the art world. But people started to see an opportunity to make a lot of money buying my work. I got disillusioned with letting dealers and collectors come to my studio. They would come in and, for prices that were nothing, a couple hundred dollars, go through all the paintings and then not get anything or try to bargain.
"I wanted to sell my paintings because it would enable me to quit my job, whether as a cook or delivering house plants or whatever else I was doing--and paint full time. But I had to have a gallery just to give me distance." |
Keith decided to be represented by Tony Shafrazi,which freed him from the pressures of dealing his own work. But more importantly, representation allowed Keith to situate his artwork in the midst of large-scale cultural events.
His first one-man show at Shafrazi in 1982 included drawings, painted tarpaulins, sculptures, and on-site work; Keith also transformed part of Shafrazi's space into a club-like environment.
The opening was attended by hundreds, and received a great deal of media attention. Keith continued to be energized by his love of, and increasing participation in, popular culture. The next several years brought Keith world-wide recognition. He worked with amazing energy, and had shows in Rotterdam, Tokyo, Naples, Antwerp, London, Cologne, Milan, Basel, Munich, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Paris and other cities, as well as numerous shows in New York and across the United States. This level of recognition brought Keith terrific opportunities for travel, collaboration and personal and artistic growth. But sometimes his phenomenal success got in the way of his work.
Keith's first show there, held in October 1982, was a fantastic success. Carefully orchestrated by Keith and his dealer, the exhibition drew some 4,000 people and was designed to show Keith at his most prolific and electric. The works on view reflected every facet of his interests, from the street styles of breakdancing, rap music and graffiti to the sexual freedom of the period and the greater interchange between races. Critics called the exhibition dazzling in its inventiveness and energy - and the name Keith Haring was suddenly part of the city's avant-garde.
Keith's parents were proud of their son's success. As his mother remembered, "We never knew what Keith was doing would ever be anything big. But after he had been in New York for two or three years, he came to visit. He reached in his pocket and pulled out ten $100 bills. I said, 'What's that?' And he said, 'I've sold some more things. And this is to pay you back for some of the money you've given to me over the years.' I said, 'My goodness!' He said, 'Things are good!' Well, at that point we still didn't know what he was doing. But it was clear that there was a lot going for him - the subways, the clubs. Then that show at Tony Shafrazi - we thought it was just great. And that's when people started going up to him and saying, 'Wow! You're Keith Haring! Will you sign this?'"
Almost immediately, Keith was invited to exhibit in Europe - in Holland, Italy, Belgium, and England as well as in Japan. Everywhere, people responded to a style that combined the simple with the complex, that blended color and pattern to form dynamic images of great variety and originality. And it was a style that mysteriously suggested the artistic traditions of Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, and the Americas. There were also powerful images of social consciousness, for Keith looked at the world, and at the struggles of the oppressed, and through his art made his feelings known. Over the course of his career he called attention to causes by creating works to promote literacy, support UNICEF, work against apartheid in South Africa, and fight drug use. Because Keith was gay, he made a special effort to spread awareness of AIDS, making works of art that warned young people against unsafe sex.
In 1983 Keith participated in the Whitney Biennial and the Sao Paulo Biennal; showed collaborations with graffiti artist l.a. ii at Fun Gallery, New York City, at Robert Fraser Gallery, London, and at Galerie Watari, Tokyo. Then he held his second exhibition at Tony Shafrazi Gallery. And he finally met Andy Warhol.
In this year he also painted several murals -- at Marquette University, Milwaukee; on a building in Tokyo, with l.a. ii.
In 1984 Keith painted murals at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; at Collingwood Technical School, and at National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; at the Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro; at candy store , Avenue D, Children's Village, Dobbs Ferry, and Asphalt Green Park, New York City; and in Minneapolis. He also created sixty-second animated commercial for Big, a store in Zürich, Switzerland.
| "By 1984 the subway started to backfire, because everyone was stealing the pieces. I'd go down and draw in the subway, and two hours later every piece would be gone. They were turning up for sale.
"...[It surprised me] that the work, as early as 1982, which was before I had any exhibitions... had already spread throughout the world. People saw it as something that wasn't really by one artist but was a vocabulary open to anyone. T-shirts appeared in Japan and sneakers in Brazil and dresses in Australia, way before I ever made any commercial object like that... " |
All Haring images © Estate Of Keith Haring
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