
I so dig Keith Haring! He is so inspiring!! I remember his art in the 80s.
He was putting graffiti on walls way before Bansky. I would say he was the original graffiti artist.
His dad liked making cartoons, so that’s where his love for art started, as well as his unmistakeable style.
A non-conformist at heart, he joined the Jesus movement in his younger days, hitchhiking across the country, selling his anti-Nixon and Grateful Dead T-shirts to support himself.
He studied commercial art for two semesters after losing interest. He got a job as a handyman at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, where he was able to explore all the art of all the greats.
A lecture from the artist, Christo as well as a retrospective of the artist Alechinsky seemed to be the pivotal point in his career. He started incorporating text and making his paintings bigger. He also brought the public into his work.
He was an icon of the 80s, hanging out with people like Andy Warhol, Basquiat, and Madonna. He was an activist for social issues, especially safer sex, during the AIDS pandemic,
His depiction of Mary and the baby Jesus which is featured on A Very Special Christmas album is unusual by today’s standards, but I think is amazing!
He died in 1990 of AIDS-related complications.