Turning Graffiti into Fashion: How Keith Haring Brought Art to the Masses
Who is Doing the Drawings in the Subways?
New York City in the 1980s pulsated to the tunes of The Sugarhill Gang and the rattle of the L-train. In the subways and on the streets, there was one artist whose colourful glyphs set off the diffident concrete jungle. Keith Haring brought the art scene to the masses when he burst into the city at the age of 20. Covering the black-papered ad spaces in the subways were white chalk drawings which Haring was arrested for many times. Some of his most recognisable symbols were first seen in these stations; the glowing baby, the barking dog, and the UFO. Everyday, thousands of commuters would glimpse his drawings, and soon the mystery of the underground artist was born.
“The public has a right to art. The public is being ignored by most contemporary artists. Art is for everybody.”
- Keith Haring's Journals, 14 October 1978
Breakbeats and Boom Boxes
Emerging from the subways, Haring’s popularity soared and he became a sudden superstar, becoming close with fellow artists Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, who first inspired him to do graffiti art, and pop icon, Madonna. He began curating exhibitions at the Mudd Club, appeared regularly at Club 57 and began showcasing the first of what would be 100 of his own gallery exhibitions.
Becoming influenced by the aesthetics of hip hop and the pace with which it moved, Haring immersed himself in the volatile culture of New York and allowed it to influence his work. In his journals he wrote, “There was this incredibly raw energy in the air, and the energy was called Hip Hop.” Lending a beat to his breakneck pace of production, Haring continued to create, sometimes up to 40 new works per day, and recreated these designs on merchandise, murals, temporary installations, and paintings to be exhibited around the world.
Did Keith Haring “Sell Out”?
Haring’s artwork has an uncanny appeal to the collective consciousness. While it took the man to bring it into existence, the art felt like it had always existed – the Mandela effect of the 80s art world perhaps heralding themes intrinsic to human beings. Today, we can’t picture 1980s visuals without the bright, geometric shapes that Haring defined as his own pictorial language. He often cited tribal artwork and ancient hieroglyphs as a point of similarity – that his artwork was seeking to communicate atavistically with modern people.
With this universal lexicon, Haring wanted to reach as many people as possible. From the beginning of his career, he was gripped by an inexplicable urge to create fast and copiously. Stemming from this desire for an abundance of output came his idea to open the Pop Shop.
"My contribution to the world is my ability to draw. I will draw as much as I can for as many people as I can for as long as I can."
While Haring was cited as being critical of capitalism, he realised the potential that merchandise had to bring his art to more people in accessible formats. “He wasn’t precious about the commercialisation of his work”, says art writer, Emily Dinsdale, “He cared more about raising the public consciousness”.
The symbols in his work became enmeshed with 80s cultural and political life. The threat of nuclear war, the looming digital age, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic all culminated in simplified and abstract renderings of barking dogs, flying saucers, radiant babies, and clambering faceless people. At the same time as Princess Diana was shaking hands with AIDS patients, Keith Haring was creating artwork raising awareness about the illness and advocating safe sex. Some of Haring’s most impactful work included his “Safe Sex” artworks, “Crack is Wack” paintings that denounced drug use, and art that criticised the Apartheid.
The Pop Shop may have been one of the earliest instances of a “pop up shop” unattached to a fashion brand. First opening its doors in Manhattan in 1986, Haring saw it as an extension of his work and painted the interior in a black and white ceiling, floor and wall mural. The idea was that here, his art would be accessible to everyone in the form of T-shirts and novelty items, and they could own his art for a small price, in comparison to the exorbitant fees for a painting from the gallery up the road. The Pop Shop remained open till 2005, with all profits going to the Keith Haring Foundation.
Born to Create
Keith Haring’s lifelong sense of urgency and the work ethic that gripped him in his short career was to have a fortuitous role in his life. In a journal entry in 1987, he wrote that he hadn’t been tested for AIDS but was sure that he had it. “My days are numbered. This is why my activities and projects are so important now. To do as much as quickly as possible. I’m sure that what will live on after I die is important enough to make sacrifices of my personal luxury and leisure time.”
Keith Haring Down Under
In 1984, Haring made an unexpected trip to Australian shores. He spent time driving around Melbourne and Sydney, creating street art for people to chance upon. Most notably, he created a large-scale mural at the former site of the Collingwood Technical School. “That an international art superstar should make it to our shores during his meteoric rise to fame — let alone undertake a series of public works here — is amazing,” said Juliana Engberg, artistic director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne.
In fact, between 1983 and 1990, Haring visited countless countries to create both permanent and temporary artworks, ensuring that his legacy would spread far and wide. In 1989 he created his Todos Juntos Podemos Parar el SIDA mural in Barcelona, raising awareness about the AIDS crisis. That same year he painted the Tuttomondo mural on the convent of the Sant’Antonio Abate church in Pisa.
A Modern Legacy
Keith Haring isn’t just memorialised as a virtuoso in the present day but also celebrated through the commercial means he first espoused to distribute his art to the masses. Brands such as Coach, Études, Stephen Sprouse and Rei Kawakubo have featured Haring’s art in their collections. Resultingly, his work has lived up to the artist’s ambitions and potentially exceeded them, by taking up residence in the collective consciousness. There isn’t a vividly coloured, cartoonish abstract image we can look at without recalling Haring’s lexicon to mind.
From the stunning presence of his work, which was created in response to the moment but live on as reminders of human nature, to his tendency to create fast and live faster, Keith Haring was destined to leave us with a legacy unrivalled by any street-style artist since.
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