Keith Haring

Keith Haring Swatch poster advertisement (vintage Keith Haring posters)

c.1985

Rare Keith Haring Party of Life invitation, 1990: Party invitation published as a memorial to Haring's life just seveal months after his dea...

Keith Haring ‘No On 64’ (Keith Haring 1986): A rare vintage 1986 Keith Haring activist announcement illustrated by Haring in effort to denounce California's Proposition 64. Proponents of the then ballot, argued that the measure would merely return AIDS to the list of communicable diseases under public health laws. Opponents characterized 64 as an effort to force HIV-positive individuals out of their jobs and into quarantine. The measure was soundly defeated by voters. A rare historic 1980s Keith Haring activist collectible with striking imagery; seldom comes to market. Offset printed folding announcement card. 8.5x11 inches. Good overall vintage condition. Minor signs of aging & handling. Printed signature from a scarce edition of unknown; few known to have survived. Please message us for more works in this category. Keith Haring was an American artist and social activist known for his illustrative depictions of figures and symbols. His white chalk drawings could often been found on the blank poster marquees in New York’s public spaces and subways. “I don't think art is propaganda,” he once stated. “It should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.” Born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, PA, he grew up in neighboring Kutztown, where he was inspired to draw from an early age by Walt Disney cartoons and his father who was an amateur cartoonist. After briefly studying commercial art in Pittsburgh, Haring came across a show of the works of Pierre Alechinksy and decided to pursue a career in fine art instead. He moved to New York in the late 1970s to attend the School of Visual Arts, and soon immersed himself in the city’s graffiti culture. By the mid-1980s, he had befriended fellow artists Andy Warhol, Kenny Scharf, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and collaborated with celebrities like the singer Grace Jones. Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988, Haring’s prodigious career was brief, and he died of AIDS-related complications on February 16, 1990 at the age of 31. Before his death, Haring established the Keith Haring Foundation, a non-profit committed to raising awareness of the illness through art programing and community outreach. Throughout his career, Haring made his art widely available through the location of his murals, as well as through the Pop Shop—Haring's own storefront which he used to sell his memorabilia.The artist’s mural Crack is Wack (1986), can still be seen today on a retaining wall along FDR Drive in Manhattan. Haring’s works can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Related Categories: Keith Haring figurative. Keith Haring foundation. Keith Haring activist. Keith Haring Aids...