Keith Haring is one of the most celebrated and widely recognized graffiti artists of all time. His iconic imagery emerged on the subway walls of New York City in the early 1980s, bridging the gap between high art and street art almost overnight. Haring’s art was accessible to the masses, both physically and visually, without pretense or irony and was full of optimism.
Haring’s distinctive, cartoon-like figures are a defining motif throughout his body of work. Thick, confident lines and simple stylized forms create a visual language that is instantly recognizable and accessible to all viewers. Often combined with hypnotic and vibrant colors, Haring's aesthetic evokes a sense of light-heartedness, even when addressing serious subjects like AIDS or drug addiction.
As Haring established himself in the art world, elements of advocacy became more prominent in his work, with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS awareness. A testament to his activism, this screen print was created for the Art Attack On AIDS Benefit to raise funds for the Wellness Network in 1988.
The dynamic composition features two figures inextricably interlocked in a physical altercation or exchange. Their clenched fists pierce through each other, inflicting mirroring wounds on their heads and torsos. The large, empty holes left on their bodies echo the ferocity of the disease while illustrating the vulnerability, grief, and despair of those affected. Haring created the work on veneer plywood illustrating his career-long commitment to democratizing the art experience.
Attack on AIDS serves as a poignant example of Haring's fierce dedication to raising awareness and destigmatizing HIV/AIDS at a time when doing so was almost radical or unheard of.
"It wasn’t until later that it started to be a lot of people. Since then, the list, it’s incredible, amazing, a long list of people. You toughen yourself up. You prepare yourself in this crazy way for it. I don’t know how many times I could watch it as close as I did with some people, being there in the last moments, but it has taught me so many things and shown me so many more things about love and about people…
I think one of the hardest things AIDS has done is to kids growing up now, trying to figure out their sexuality in an unbiased way. They always will have their sexuality shoved down their throats, but they’ll make their own way because it’s such a strong thing - it will override everything, no matter how much brainwashing’s going on. So imagine how horrible it must be to some young kid who knows he’s gay or someone thinking of experimenting. They could have a sentence of death. It’s horribly frightening. It gives so much fuel to the people who are telling you that it’s wrong to be who you are. There are so few people who are good openly gay role models or just good people who are respected who are open about their sexuality. Now there has to be openness about all these issues…
In a way, it’s almost a privilege. To know. When I was a little kid, I always felt that I was going to die young, in my twenties or something. So in a way, I always lived my life as if I expected it. I did everything I wanted to do. I’m still doing whatever I want...If you’re writing a story, you can sort of ramble on and go in a lot of directions at once, but when you are getting to the end of the story, you have to start pointing all the things toward one thing. That’s the point that I’m at now, not knowing where it stops but knowing how important it is to do it now. The whole thing is getting much more articulate. In a way it’s really liberating.”
- Keith Haring in “Just Say Know”, Rolling Stone, 10 August 1989
It is still shocking and heartbreaking that Haring succumbed to the disease at the age of 31. His legacy lives on through the Keith Haring Foundation, which he founded a year before his death. His work is celebrated in permanent collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Ludwig Museum (Cologne), to name a few.
