Keith Haring (1958-1990) gained international acclaim as not only a street artist and social activist but a major contributor to the Pop Art Movement. At the age of 19, Haring moved from his small hometown in Pennsylvania to New York City in order to attend the School of Visual Arts. The bustling city offered him the opportunity to experiment with street art, as is evidenced by his early chalk drawings throughout the underground subway system.
Haring is known for his relationship to street culture of New York City throughout the 1980s, clearly reflected in his art along with consistent social undertones of life, unity, love, war, and sex. The bold lines, vivid colors, and active figures present in his drawings, paintings, and prints make a Haring work almost immediately identifiable.
His iconic works have been displayed in institutions throughout the world, most recently in a major retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY (2012). Haring has also been the subject of significant solo exhibitions at Pace Prints Chelsea, New York, NY (2012; Galeria de Art del Centro de Extension de la Pontifica Universidad Catholica de Chile, Santiago, Chile (2012); Chiesa di San Francesco, Udine, Italy (2012); Musee en Herbe, Paris, France (2011); and Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY (2011).
