I’ve been aware of Keith Haring and his amazing art for sometime now.  Recently, I watched Christina Clausen’s fantastic documentary about the man and his art.  One forgets how monumental, what a movement and force his pop art was when it burst onto the scene.  He was just such a generous human being and an artist.  The film makes the point that Haring was making such a statement through pop art while Andy Warhol was taking familiar images and turning them into pop art.  The difference is quite poignant.

The film also makes the point of his art being long lasting.  Wherever he went he was insistent that he visited a children’s hospital or the like.  He usually did a mural while he was there and those have remained all over the world – from New York to San Francisco to Spain to the Middle East to the UK and on. 

The friends and scene he embodied – Basquiat, Warhol, Madonna, Larry Levan’s (dj) Paradise Garage, AIDS, Fred Brathwaite, A.K.A. Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Bill T. Jones, David LaChapelle, Yoko Ono, Tony Shafrazi, Junior Vasquez, – have gone on to do amazing things.  Many have passed away just as Keith has.  He’s deeply missed.  It’s staggering to think about what else he would have accomplished should he still be around. He would be around 53.

http://www.haring.com/universe_of_haring/

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