Keith Haring

 Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist known for his vibrant, pop art-inspired imagery and his activism in the LGBTQ+ community and AIDS awareness.

Haring was born and raised in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He attended the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh for two years before dropping out and moving to New York City in 1978. In New York, Haring attended the School of Visual Arts, where he studied with renowned artists such as Joseph Kosuth and Sol LeWitt.

Haring's early work in New York City consisted of chalk drawings in the subway stations. He used these public spaces to showcase his art to a wider audience and gain exposure. Haring's unique style of bold, black lines and bright colors quickly gained popularity and attention from the art world.

During his lifetime, Haring had over 50 solo exhibitions and was represented by well-known galleries such as the Tony Shafrazi Gallery and the Leo Castelli Gallery. Since his death, he has been featured in over 150 exhibitions around the world and has also been the subject of several international retrospectives.

Haring had his first solo exhibition at Westbeth Painters Space in February 1981. That same month, he also participated in the New York/New Wave exhibit at MoMA PS1. Later that year, he had a solo exhibition at the Hal Bromm Gallery, followed by his breakthrough exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982. That same year, he took part in documenta 7 in Kassel as well as Public Art Fund's Messages to the Public series, in which he created work for a Spectacolor billboard in Times Square.

In 1983, Haring contributed work to the Whitney Biennial and the São Paulo Biennial. He also had solo exhibitions at the Fun Gallery, Galerie Watari in Tokyo, and his second show at the Tony Shafarzi Gallery.

In 1984, Haring participated in the group show Arte di Frontiera: New York Graffiti in Italy. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1984 and 1986. In 1985, Haring took part in the Paris Biennial and had his first solo museum exhibition at the CAPC in Bordeaux. In 1986, three of Haring's sculptures were placed at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza outside the United Nations headquarters. Two of the works were displayed at Riverside Park from May 1988 to May 1989. In 1991–92, Haring's Figure Balancing on Dog was displayed in Dante Park in Manhattan.

In 1996, a retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia was the first major exhibition of his work in Australia. His art was the subject of a 1997 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, curated by Elisabeth Sussman. The Public Art Fund, in collaboration with the Estate of Keith Haring, organized a multi-site installation of his outdoor sculptures at Central Park's Doris C. Freedman Plaza and along the Park Avenue Malls. This public exhibition occurred simultaneously with the retrospective at the Whitney.

In 2007, Haring's painted aluminum sculpture Self-Portrait (1989) was displayed in the lobby of the Arsenal in Central Park, as part of the retrospective exhibition The Outdoor Gallery: 40 Years of Public Art in New York City Parks.

In 2008, there was a retrospective exhibition at the MAC in Lyon, France. In February 2010, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Haring's death, the Tony Shafrazi Gallery showed an exhibition containing dozens of works from every stage of Haring's career.