Knowledge can be gained at any age. After having a detailed study on topics there are things unknown to us. So, we at Abirpothi present before you the lesser-known facts about artists around the world.
Keith Haring
“I’ve been taken to a station handcuffed by a cop who realised, much to his dismay, that the other cops in the precinct are my fans and were anxious to meet me and shake my hand.”
– Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an American queer artist known for his social activism. His street culture-influenced Pop Art and graffiti-inspired paintings, which included impromptu sketches of people, pets, and other stylized motifs, emerged from New York City in the 1980s. Because Haring was socially conscious, his art frequently expressed his opinions on current events. He battled against the spread of illegal drugs and worked to increase AIDS awareness.
11 lesser- known facts about Keith Haring
1. Keith who is known for Metropolitan art actually grew up in a small rural community in South Central Pennsylvania.
2. His works are heavily inspired by the cartoons he watched in his childhood. He had been making up stories and making up characters since he was a young boy. He saw cartooning and becoming an artist as two distinct disciplines.
3. He has always been critical of the elitist nature of the art world. Accessibility is the key that Keith had always believed in. For the same reason, he did not sell his artworks in a gallery which would have fetched him more monetary value. Therefore, he opened a pop shop in New York. The shop stayed open for 15 years after his death.
4. Haring’s works were always vibrant and animated, but they also often dealt with serious issues that affected people not just in America but all over the globe. Haring made his argument succinctly and clearly by using catchy slogans. Crack is Wack is the most significant artwork of Keith. The two-sided mural is a commentary on the growing use of cocaine in communities in America in the 1980s. He chose the floors and walls of the subway station to draw using chalk. He was arrested multiple times on the charges of vandalism.
5. A massive jigsaw made up of more than 32,000 pieces and 32 of Haring’s paintings measure more than 5 metres by 2 metres. It is the biggest commercially available jigsaw in the entire globe.
6. In 1974 Tony Shafrzi the art dealer of Haring entered the Museum of Modern Art in New York and vandalised Guernica by Picasso by spraying paint. It wrote “KILL ALL LIES” in order to protest against the Vietnam war.
7. Haring adored dealing with kids, praising their creativity, sense of humour, and lack of prejudice. He also encouraged kids to gather together and do art together. In addition to creating murals at numerous children’s hospitals, including the Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris, Haring frequently worked with charities that support young people.
8. In an effort to “destroy the wall through painting it,” Haring was asked to paint a section of the Berlin Wall in 1986. He created a colourful painting in the shape of the German flag to represent the desire for rapprochement between East and West Germany. When the wall was removed in 1989, the artwork was lost.
9. Herring had participated in more than 100 solo and group shows while being a prominent member of New York’s underground art community. More than 40 newspapers had written about him, making him a popular artist to work with. He has collaborated with famous artists like Andy Warhol, Madonna, Grace Jones, William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, and Yoko Ono.
10. In 1988, he was diagnosed with AIDS. His poster, Ignorance = Fear, alludes to the difficulties HIV-positive individuals had to deal with. He wished to spread the word about the value of AIDS education to as many people as he could. A year after his diagnosis, Haring established The Keith Haring Foundation to support and finance AIDS research, charities, and education.
11. Haring died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 31. Haring has been the focus of numerous worldwide retrospectives since his passing. Today, prominent museums all over the world have exhibitions and collections featuring Keith Haring’s work.
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