9.25 х 9 in. cm.
On the opening night of Keith Haring’s first major gallery show at New York City’s Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982, guests were presented with first edition copies of the exhibition catalogue "Keith Haring." Serving as a sort of crapbook of the artist’s life and career thus far, the catalogue features illustrations and photographs of Haring and New York City in the 1980s. Further functioning as a work of ephemera, some of the catalogues were completed with hand-drawn images and personal annotations. Here, Haring has used marker to execute his infamous outline figures, which echo the radiant baby sign printed on the catalogue page.
Keith Haring (1958-1990) gained international acclaim as a street artist, social activist, and 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. Living in the city afforded him the opportunity to experiment with street art, as evidenced by his early chalk drawings throughout the subway system. Haring’s art reflects his strong affinity for New York City street culture of the 1980s, and his preoccupation with issues of love, sex, war, and social conflict. The bold lines, vivid colors, and animated figures present in his drawings, paintings, and prints make a Haring work almost immediately identifiable. Keith Haring’s art has 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).
Selected Public Collections:
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Geneva, Switzerland
Museum of Contemporary Art, Jerusalem, Israel
Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
Nakamura Keith Haring Collection, Kobuchizawa, Japan
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia