1985
Keith Haring began experimenting with his bold, graphic lines and cartoon-inspired figures on the walls of New York City subway stations in the early 1980s. He called them his “laboratory,” places to develop a radical new aesthetic based on an ideology of creating truly democratic public art.
Haring’s paintings, prints and murals address the universal themes of death, love and sex, as well as contemporary issues he experienced personally, like the crack-cocaine and AIDS epidemics. They derive much of their impact from the powerful contrast between these serious subjects and the joyful, vibrant pictographic language he uses to express them, full of dancing figures, babies, barking dogs, hearts and rhythmic lines, as well as references to pop culture.
To make his art even more accessible, in 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop in Soho. In a foreshadowing of today’s intermingling of art and fashion, the shop sold merchandise and novelty items featuring imagery by Haring and contemporaries like Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat. While his works sometimes included text, for the most part, he chose to communicate through drawing.
“Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times,” Haring once declared. “It lives through magic.”
Find Keith Haring art on 1stDibs today.
1984 Original Poster by Keith Haring - Tony Shafrazi Gallery
By Keith Haring
Located in PARIS, FR
Original poster Exhibition - Pop art Bridging the gap between the art world and the street, Keith Haring made a name for himself in the early 1980s with his graffiti drawings in th...
Paper, Lithograph
Keith Haring's original poster for "Crack Down!" in 1986 - Pop Art
By Keith Haring
Located in PARIS, FR
Keith Haring's original poster for "Crack Down!" in 1986 is a powerful artistic statement against the growing drug crisis, particularly that of crack cocaine, which plagued some urban communities in the USA at the time. Haring, an iconic artist of the urban art movement and the fight against AIDS, used his distinctive style of clean lines and energetic shapes to evoke a powerful image. The "Crack Down!" poster features an emaciated, tormented figure, symbolizing the devastation caused by drug addiction. The message is clear and direct, highlighting the ravages of drugs on individuals and communities. Haring created this poster to raise awareness and mobilize the public in the face of this serious social crisis. The impact of the "Crack Down!" poster was not limited to its striking aesthetics, but also helped draw attention to the need for action to combat drugs and their devastating consequences. The work reflects Keith Haring's social commitment, as he used his art to champion important humanitarian causes. To this day, Keith Haring's "Crack Down!" poster remains a powerful symbol of the artist's commitment to social justice and his ability to use art...
Linen, Paper
1998 Keith Haring's original poster at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
By Keith Haring
Located in PARIS, FR
Poster for Keith Haring's exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1998. Keith Allen Haring was an American artist whose pop art emerged f...
Paper, Lithograph
1986 Keith Haring L'Homme et le Poisson Original Exhibition Poster
By Keith Haring
Located in PARIS, FR
Created in 1986, this original exhibition poster by Keith Haring was produced for his landmark exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, held from 15 March to 12 May 1986. Featur...
Paper, Lithograph
Powerful original gouache painting from 1983 - apartheid-era South Africa
Located in PARIS, FR
This powerful original gouache painting from 1983 by the celebrated Soviet satirical collective Kukryniksy embodies a direct and forceful critique of colonial oppression and racial i...
Paper, Gouache, Linen
Original circa 1970 OSPAAAL poster Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa
Located in PARIS, FR
Stark, raw, and uncompromising, this original circa 1970 OSPAAAL poster by Gladis Acosta encapsulates the brutal realities of colonial oppression in Afr...
Paper, Lithograph
Untitled (Free South Africa #2)
By Keith Haring
Located in New York, NY
Created by Keith Haring in 1985 as an original color lithograph, Untitled (Free South Africa #2) is hand-signed, dated and numbered in pencil, measur...
Lithograph
Untitled (Free South Africa), one plate
By Keith Haring
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Keith Haring Title: Untitled (Free South Africa): one plate Size: 39 7/8 x 39 1/2 in. (81 x 100.3 cm) Medium: Lithograph in colors, on Rives BFK paper, with full margins Ed...
Lithograph
Free South Africa
By Keith Haring
Located in Miami, FL
TECHNICAL INFORMATION Keith Haring Free South Africa, complete set of 3 1985 Lithograph Sizes vary Edition of 60 Pencil signed, dated and numbered ...
Lithograph
Untitled (Plate 2) Littmann 42, Free South Africa Series, Color Lithograph 1980s
By Keith Haring
Located in New York, NY
The specific information regarding edition will be provided at the time of sale. Please contact the seller for more details. Untitled (Lower Plate) Littmann 42, is a color lithograp...
Lithograph
Keith Haring Fun Gallery exhibition poster 1983 (vintage Keith Haring)
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring Fun Gallery 1983: Original 1983 Keith Haring illustrated exhibition poster published on the occasion of Haring's historic 1983 show at the Fun Gallery in the East Village. A classic array of early Haring imagery that reveals red and black interlocking figures. A rare example in very good overall vintage condition. Offset lithograph in colors on smooth wove paper. 23 x 29 inches. Only some minor signs of handling; in otherwise very good overall vintage condition with strong colors; one of the better examples we've come across. Stored away from light; never mounted or framed. Unsigned from an edition of unknown; scarce. Catalog Raisonne: Keith Haring: Posters (Prestel Publishing). References: Included in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. About the Fun Gallery: Historic, short-lived, East Village gallery known for giving Keith Haring, Basquiat & Kenny Scharf some of their first solo shows. “FUN Gallery was a place where neighborhood kids, downtown artists, b-boys, rock, film, and rap stars mixed with museum directors art historians and uptown collectors at wild openings featuring artists like Futura, Fab 5...
Lithograph, Offset
Keith Haring Drawings poster 1982 (Keith Haring Tony Shafrazi gallery 1982)
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring Tony Shafrazi Gallery 1982: The much historic early Keith Haring exhibition poster, illustrated by Haring on the occasion of: 'Keith Haring Drawings' Oct. 9 - Nov. 13 - ...
Lithograph, Offset
