Keith Haring 20 Years On

I get these DVD’s in the post from time to time and today arrived a Keith Haring documentary and what i realised by the end of it is he passed away exactly 20 years ago today.

It is hard not to be aware of Keith Haring’s work, even 20 years on one still sees his work on tees, record sleeves or in the streets around the world so i kind of knew his work and some of his iconic images he produced but never really knew who he was or where he was coming from and so it was good to see this workaholic artist who in a decade worked his ass of right up until his death.

What impresses me about Keith is how quickly his career took off. By the end of art school in 81 he was beginning to blow up and pretty much that year and the next saw him exhibiting all over the world. The amount of output blew me away as well, this guy was prolific and he painted with purpose, conviction and speed, almost like he was under voodoo. And even with so much attention and success always requested that where ever he goes in the world he must do a public piece or mural that would last long after he has gone.