Keith haring was born in 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States.
He grew up in Kutztown and from a young age he showed a great interest in art. He studied graphic design at The Ivy School of Professional Art, in Pittsburg, and at the age of 19, already declared openly gay, he moved to New York, where he found inspiration in the art of graffiti and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts where he was influenced by Keith sonnler Y Joseph Kossuth, who encouraged him to train as a conceptual artist after experimenting with shape and color.
Haring He captured the public’s attention in 1980, when he began drawing cartoon-like images with felt-tip pen on the subways of the Big Apple, then painted cartoons on black advertising panels with white chalk, earning him more than one arrest.
Its clean lines, vivid colors and active figures carried strong messages of life and unity and its exhibits were filmed by the photographer. Tseng Kwong Chi.
Also around this time, he organized an exhibition at Club 57, and participated in a sample at the Times square, where he drew, for the first time, animals and human faces.
His first singular exhibition was at the Gallery of Tony shafrazy in 1981, the same year that he took part in the exhibition Documents 7, in Kassel, Germany.
In 1982 he made friends with emerging artists of the time such as Kenny sharf, Madonna Y Jean-Michel Basquiat, and even met the famous Andy Warhol.
In 1984 Harin went to Australia and painted various murals in Melbourne and Sydney, and even received money for his work from the National Gallery Victoria and from Australian Center for Contemporary Art.
He also visited and painted in Rio de Janeiro, the Museum of Modern Art from Paris, Minneapolis and Manhattan.
Even at this time he designed a pink jacket that he used Madonna to interpret his theme “Like a Virgin” in the program “Solid gold”.
In 1985, the Museum of Modern Art in Bordeaux he held an exhibition of his work, and also took part in the Paris Biennale.
He appeared in November of that year on the channel Mtv where he painted on a show hosted by his friend Nick rhodes, of the group Duran Duran.
In 1986 he painted murals in Amsterdam, Paris, Phoenix and Berlin, he also painted the body of Grace jones for his music video for the song “I’m not perfect”, And opened a store to sell his work in SOHO.
By then, his works began to reflect the socio-political problems of the time such as anti-Apartheid, AIDS and drugs.
He also created pop art pieces for brands like Absolut Vodka, Lucky strike Y Coke, and even designed the cover of the charity album “A Very Special Christmas”, In which her friend Madonna it was included.
In 1988 he was included in a select list of artists whose works appeared on wine labels. Chateau Mouton Rotshchild, and that same year he was diagnosed with AIDS, so the following year he inaugurated the Keith Haring Foundation whose objective was to fight against the social problems related to this disease and to make the artist’s work known through exhibitions, publications and the licenses of his work.
In June 1989 he painted his last public work on a wall of the convent of the Church of San Antonio in Pisa. This work was titled “Tuttomondo”.
Keith haring He finally died of AIDS on February 16, 1990.
As a tribute to the artist, Madonna stated that the first date of his tour “Blond Ambition World Tour”It would be a charity concert in memory of the artist, and he donated the proceeds to various AIDS-related associations.
More recently, in 2008, the diva showed the work of Haring on his tour “Sticky & sweet“, During the song”Into the groove”.
During that same year, in homage to what would have been the artist’s 50th birthday, an open exhibition of his work was held in Terrasa, Spain, and a documentary was also filmed, entitled “Keith Haring’s universe“, produced by Christina Clausen.
Summing up his work, the artist had influences from different arts such as African, Eskimo and Mayan, as well as Chinese calligraphy, and works of Alechinsky, Warhol Y Tobey, all responsible for its evolution towards the semi-abstract, vivid colors and works that transmit great energy.
To capture his works, Haring He used various pictorial supports such as paper, fiberglass, canvas, T-shirts and pieces of enameled steel.
His style is considered part of pop and street culture, and his culture was a combination of art, music and fashion, which helped him achieve his great commercial success.