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Tuesday 13 April 2021

Artlyst - Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery

My latest feature article for Artlyst is about Keith Haring who transformed the art world during his short but impactful life, having become known initially for art that proliferated in the New York subway system during the early 1980s. My piece draws on a new biography by Simon Doonan which is part of the Lives of Artists series published by Lawrence King, the 'Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit' exhibition currently at the World Chess Hall of Fame, and a piece by Michael Wright (via Victoria Emily Jones' Art & Theology blog) highlighting Haring's connection as a teen with the Jesus People movement:

'Keith Haring: Radiant Gambit reminds us that throughout his career, Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages. He produced more than 50 public artworks between 1982 and 1989 in dozens of cities worldwide, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children’s daycare centres and orphanages. Haring also held drawing workshops for children in schools and museums in New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, and Bordeaux and produced imagery for many literacy programs and other public service campaigns. Doonan, as we noted, writes that Haring was an artist for the people, best remembered as a Pied Piper, an unpretentious communicator who appeared happiest mentoring a gang of kids, arming them with brushes and attacking the nearest wall. Wright suggests Haring’s “compassion for the weak and vulnerable, his critical eye to unjust systems, his celebration of the body and human dignity—this was all part of Haring’s sensibility, and it’s deeply Christ-like too,” while also being characteristic of the Jesus People whose community he left but whose influence remained.'

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

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Eurythmics - Winter Wonderland.
Posted by Jonathan Evens at 20:41
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