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Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring ― A Biography of an American Artist
SOON TO BE A TV SERIES WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ANDREW HAIGH
New York Times Book Critics Favorite Book of the Year · Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
“It’s all the grade school Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss; the adolescent acid trips; the fondness for Post-it notes and flying saucers; the long tails of Dubuffet and Burroughs; the encounters with Madonna, Warhol, and one game-changer of a subway Johnny Walker Red poster. Brad Gooch takes us deep into Keith Haring’s imagination while somehow managing to fix the aura and energy of the 1980s New York art scene to the page. A keen-eyed, beautifully written biography, atmospheric, exuberant, and as radiant as they come.”—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Sam Adams
A stunning life of the iconic American artist, Keith Haring, by the acclaimed biographer Brad Gooch.
In the 1980s, the subways of New York City were covered with art. In the stations, black matte sheets were pasted over outdated ads, and unsigned chalk drawings often popped up on these blank spaces. These temporary chalk drawings numbered in the thousands and became synonymous with a city as diverse as it was at war with itself, beset with poverty and crime but alive with art and creative energy. And every single one of these drawings was done by Keith Haring.
Keith Haring was one of the most emblematic artists of the 1980s, a figure described by his contemporaries as “a prophet in his life, his person, and his work.” Part of an iconic cultural crowd that included Andy Warhol, Madonna, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring broke down the barriers between high art and pop culture, creating work that was accessible for all and using it as a means to provoke and inspire radical social change. Haring died of AIDS in 1990. To this day, his influence on our culture remains incontrovertible, and his glamorous, tragically short life has a unique aura of mystery and power.
In this definitive Keith Haring biography, Brad Gooch, noted biographer of Flannery O’Connor and Frank O’Hara, was granted access to Haring’s extensive archive. He has written a biography that will become the authoritative work on the artist. Based on interviews with those who knew Haring best and drawing from the rich archival history, Brad Gooch sets out to capture the magic of Keith a visionary and timeless icon.
This authoritative art biography reveals the man behind the icons, capturing the relentless creativity and historical importance of a once-in-a-generation
Subway Discover the full story behind the thousands of ephemeral chalk drawings that transformed New York City’s subway system into a public gallery for everyone.Art for Explore Haring’s democratic belief in breaking down the barriers between high art and popular culture, from his Pop Shop to his public murals.An American Witness Haring’s journey from a childhood in Kutztown, Pennsylvania―learning to draw cartoons from his father―to his meteoric rise as a global art phenomenon.The AIDS Understand how Haring confronted the devastating epidemic that shaped his later work and tragically cut short his life and career at the age of 31.
New York Times Book Critics Favorite Book of the Year · Washington Post Notable Book of the Year
“It’s all the grade school Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss; the adolescent acid trips; the fondness for Post-it notes and flying saucers; the long tails of Dubuffet and Burroughs; the encounters with Madonna, Warhol, and one game-changer of a subway Johnny Walker Red poster. Brad Gooch takes us deep into Keith Haring’s imagination while somehow managing to fix the aura and energy of the 1980s New York art scene to the page. A keen-eyed, beautifully written biography, atmospheric, exuberant, and as radiant as they come.”—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Sam Adams
A stunning life of the iconic American artist, Keith Haring, by the acclaimed biographer Brad Gooch.
In the 1980s, the subways of New York City were covered with art. In the stations, black matte sheets were pasted over outdated ads, and unsigned chalk drawings often popped up on these blank spaces. These temporary chalk drawings numbered in the thousands and became synonymous with a city as diverse as it was at war with itself, beset with poverty and crime but alive with art and creative energy. And every single one of these drawings was done by Keith Haring.
Keith Haring was one of the most emblematic artists of the 1980s, a figure described by his contemporaries as “a prophet in his life, his person, and his work.” Part of an iconic cultural crowd that included Andy Warhol, Madonna, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring broke down the barriers between high art and pop culture, creating work that was accessible for all and using it as a means to provoke and inspire radical social change. Haring died of AIDS in 1990. To this day, his influence on our culture remains incontrovertible, and his glamorous, tragically short life has a unique aura of mystery and power.
In this definitive Keith Haring biography, Brad Gooch, noted biographer of Flannery O’Connor and Frank O’Hara, was granted access to Haring’s extensive archive. He has written a biography that will become the authoritative work on the artist. Based on interviews with those who knew Haring best and drawing from the rich archival history, Brad Gooch sets out to capture the magic of Keith a visionary and timeless icon.
This authoritative art biography reveals the man behind the icons, capturing the relentless creativity and historical importance of a once-in-a-generation
Subway Discover the full story behind the thousands of ephemeral chalk drawings that transformed New York City’s subway system into a public gallery for everyone.Art for Explore Haring’s democratic belief in breaking down the barriers between high art and popular culture, from his Pop Shop to his public murals.An American Witness Haring’s journey from a childhood in Kutztown, Pennsylvania―learning to draw cartoons from his father―to his meteoric rise as a global art phenomenon.The AIDS Understand how Haring confronted the devastating epidemic that shaped his later work and tragically cut short his life and career at the age of 31.
512 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2024
About the author
Brad Gooch
29 books117 followersBrad Gooch is the author of Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor (Little, Brown, 2009.) His previous books include City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O’Hara; as well as Godtalk: Travels in Spiritual America; three novels--Scary Kisses, The Golden Age of Promiscuity, Zombie00; a collection of stories, Jailbait and Other Stories, chosen by Donald Barthelme for a Pushcart Foundation Writer’s Choice Award; a collection of poems, The Daily News; and two memoirs, Finding the Boyfriend Within and Dating the Greek Gods.
His work has been featured in numerous magazines including: The New Republic, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Travel and Leisure, Partisan Review, The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Art Forum, Harper’s Bazaar, The Nation, and regularly on The Daily Beast.
A Guggenheim fellow in Biography, he has received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, and a Furthermore grant in publishing from the J.M. Kaplan Fund.
A professor of English at William Paterson University, he earned his PhD at Columbia University, and lives in New York City.
His work has been featured in numerous magazines including: The New Republic, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Travel and Leisure, Partisan Review, The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Art Forum, Harper’s Bazaar, The Nation, and regularly on The Daily Beast.
A Guggenheim fellow in Biography, he has received a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, and a Furthermore grant in publishing from the J.M. Kaplan Fund.
A professor of English at William Paterson University, he earned his PhD at Columbia University, and lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
July 9, 2024
I came to this biography after seeing an exhibit of Haring’s work for Luna Luna, an outdoor amusement park, this spring. My personal favorite of all the extant pieces.
Subway chalk drawing blurring performance art and graffiti. Brilliant really, to use the blank advertisement frames covered in only black paper and the reintroduction of figurative expression in art.
The genesis of the barking dogs: living in SoCal in Santa Ana while a toddler Keith’s family lived upstairs in an apartment house. “I imagined they were like wolves,” [. . .]”I must have been only two. I had these dreams about these dogs at the bottom of the stairs that I was petrified of.”
Interesting intersection of Warhol, Madonna, Grace Jones and others. But, the specter of AIDS was sobering. But someone as inherently optimistic as Haring would only reach this resolution for his impending mortality at such a young age:
Wholeheartedly recommend this biography. It’s not short but it really gives an understanding of the influences on and progression of Haring’s work as well as the zeitgeist of NYC in the 80s.
Haring’s humanism, unusually so for the period, was unironic. “The reason that the ‘baby’ has become my logo or signature,” he wrote, “is that it is the purest and most positive experience of human existence. Children are the bearers of the life in its simplest and most joyous form.” One art critic wrote of the baby’s rays as”the first believable twentieth-century halo.”
Subway chalk drawing blurring performance art and graffiti. Brilliant really, to use the blank advertisement frames covered in only black paper and the reintroduction of figurative expression in art.
The genesis of the barking dogs: living in SoCal in Santa Ana while a toddler Keith’s family lived upstairs in an apartment house. “I imagined they were like wolves,” [. . .]”I must have been only two. I had these dreams about these dogs at the bottom of the stairs that I was petrified of.”
Interesting intersection of Warhol, Madonna, Grace Jones and others. But, the specter of AIDS was sobering. But someone as inherently optimistic as Haring would only reach this resolution for his impending mortality at such a young age:
It wouldn’t matter if you live until you were seventy-five, there would still be things that you wished you would have accomplished. You could work for several lifetimes. If I could clone myself there will still be too much work to do, even if there were five of me. And there are no regrets, really. Part of the reason that I'm not having trouble facing the reality of death is that it’s not a limitation, in a way. It could have happened any time and it is going to happen to someone any time, If you live your life according to that, death is irrelevant. Everything I’m doing right now is exactly what I want to do.
Wholeheartedly recommend this biography. It’s not short but it really gives an understanding of the influences on and progression of Haring’s work as well as the zeitgeist of NYC in the 80s.
March 11, 2024
This has to be the most authoritative biography of Keith Haring to date. What an incredible feat. Brad Gooch is brilliant and his eloquence comes through in crafting this narrative of one of America's premier modern artists who had his life snuffed out much too soon. I'm an avid fan of Keith Haring's art, but I didn't know much about him as a person beyond some basic facts. I'm glad I picked this up.
The reader is treated to a comprehensive look at his life, but the biography is written in a way that encourages the reader to engage with Keith Haring as if we know him personally. Reading Radiant put me right on the streets of New York, watching Keith paint his works in his sleeveless shirts and tight blue jeans. Evocative is a word that comes to mind, but I don't think it fully encapsulates just how emotive this book is. I purchased a hardcover copy of this book because I just need to have it on my shelf. Thank you, Mr. Gooch, for crafting a novel worth keeping in my collection forever.
Thank you to the author and the publisher, Harper, for this ARC in exchange for my review.
The reader is treated to a comprehensive look at his life, but the biography is written in a way that encourages the reader to engage with Keith Haring as if we know him personally. Reading Radiant put me right on the streets of New York, watching Keith paint his works in his sleeveless shirts and tight blue jeans. Evocative is a word that comes to mind, but I don't think it fully encapsulates just how emotive this book is. I purchased a hardcover copy of this book because I just need to have it on my shelf. Thank you, Mr. Gooch, for crafting a novel worth keeping in my collection forever.
Thank you to the author and the publisher, Harper, for this ARC in exchange for my review.
April 2, 2024
This is an incredible accomplishment. Brad Gooch’s years of archival and other research is astounding. I enjoyed reading this book so much—he captures both the scenes that Haring was a part of as well as his artistic process and vision.
May 21, 2024
I didn’t expect to cry at the end of this but that’s life. A beautiful journey!
October 27, 2025
„Linia, która zmieniła sztukę”, to historia człowieka, który „wyważył” drzwi galerii sztuki i wypuścił artystyczne wizje wprost na tętniące życiem ulice Nowego Jorku. A że Haring był charyzmatyczny i niepokorny to miasto stało się piękne.
Groch rekonstruuje z niesamowitą dbałością drogę, jaką artysta miał do pokonania, od nieśmiałego gościa z Pensylwanii, po ikonę, która przez wielu stawiana jest na równi z legendarnym Andym Warholem. Ciekawym skutkiem ubocznym przedstawiania życia Haringa jest kronika lat 80 tych z rozkwitem klubów, buntem, rewolucją artystyczną i także tą mroczniejszą stroną, czyli epidemią AIDS, która wielu ludzi tamtego pokolenia napiętnowała.
Portret jaki Gooch ukazywał był niezwykle emocjonalny, ponieważ autor nie idealizuje artysty, ukazuje jego rozdarcie, gdzie spontaniczność mieszała się ze świadomością przemijania, a w tle było jeszcze poczucie artystycznej misji do spełnienia. Wielką przyjemność dało mi czytanie o relacjach z artystami jak, chociażby wspomnianym już Warholem, czy Basquiatem. Ukazanie jak te znajomości się docierały w poszukiwaniu wspólnego artystycznego języka, było niezwykle inspirujące, zwłaszcza mając teraz świadomość, jak obecnie Ci wizjonerzy są postrzegani i cenieni.
Autorowi udało się historię oddać w sposób żywy i niezwykle obrazowy, gdzie procesy twórcze Haringa były ucztą, a jego fascynacja rytmem, miejską energią nawet mi się udzieliła. Biografia ukazuje, jak potrzeba komunikacji może niejako zdefiniować życie i stać się wyrazem wolności. Historia Haringa inspiruje i uświadamia zarazem jak bardzo należy mówić własnym głosem, iść własnym nurtem nawet, a może zwłaszcza wtedy, gdy otoczenie wydaje się nie być na to gotowe.
Inspirująca książka o geniuszu, który nawet będąc u kresu, tworzył na niesamowitej intensywności.
Did Not Finish
August 12, 2024Dnf @ 37%
Sorry to this man, but I could not be bothered to continue. I love reading about the intricacies about a person's life, but oh my god:
1) we don't need every quote of every person involved in the subject's life; 1-2 quotes and we get the picture
2) do we really need to describe the lives of every single individual that crossed the subject's path?
3) unless you're involved with the art world, maybe don't include all the subtle nuances of it for the every-reader
I love art and art history, but this wore my patience down to a matchstick. This book needed another round of editing and condensing. If you're an avid - and I do mean AVID - fan of Haring, then you'll probably enjoy this book more than I did.
Sorry to this man, but I could not be bothered to continue. I love reading about the intricacies about a person's life, but oh my god:
1) we don't need every quote of every person involved in the subject's life; 1-2 quotes and we get the picture
2) do we really need to describe the lives of every single individual that crossed the subject's path?
3) unless you're involved with the art world, maybe don't include all the subtle nuances of it for the every-reader
I love art and art history, but this wore my patience down to a matchstick. This book needed another round of editing and condensing. If you're an avid - and I do mean AVID - fan of Haring, then you'll probably enjoy this book more than I did.
July 24, 2024
Oh my god I know so much about Keith Haring now. The things I loved about this book: the cameos, the portrait of NYC in the ‘80s, Keith’s start in street art and the reconstructions of the scene based on Andy Warhol’s diaries.
I had no idea Madonna was the real deal, surprising because it feels like superstars are all manufactured commodities now. But there she was, debuting songs and performances in gay clubs and paying for people’s medical care and apartments as the community and her closest friends were devastated by HIV and AIDS. Learning more about the criminal tragedy that is the ongoing AIDS crisis was, at turns, infuriating, inspiring and beyond sad.
I enjoyed reading about the tension between fine art and commercial art in Haring’s practice. That seems to still be present, though they license the fuck out of his work to support the Keith Haring Foundation, which seems like a worthy cause.
I loved when Matt Dillon was mentioned (check out his social media, he’s a wonderful artist too) and learning that Dennis Hopper gave Keith’s eulogy.
What a prolific artist, completely ubiquitous now. It’s shocking that he died at age 32 and left the legacy he did. Not just his art (commercialized or not), but his activism. Ugh and the way 2024 feels like an echo of 1980.
There’s a BBC/PBS documentary that would be worth a watch if you can’t stomach a 500 page book (this took me forever to read), but at the very least go watch Grace Jones’ “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You)” video. You’ll be happy you did.
I had no idea Madonna was the real deal, surprising because it feels like superstars are all manufactured commodities now. But there she was, debuting songs and performances in gay clubs and paying for people’s medical care and apartments as the community and her closest friends were devastated by HIV and AIDS. Learning more about the criminal tragedy that is the ongoing AIDS crisis was, at turns, infuriating, inspiring and beyond sad.
I enjoyed reading about the tension between fine art and commercial art in Haring’s practice. That seems to still be present, though they license the fuck out of his work to support the Keith Haring Foundation, which seems like a worthy cause.
I loved when Matt Dillon was mentioned (check out his social media, he’s a wonderful artist too) and learning that Dennis Hopper gave Keith’s eulogy.
What a prolific artist, completely ubiquitous now. It’s shocking that he died at age 32 and left the legacy he did. Not just his art (commercialized or not), but his activism. Ugh and the way 2024 feels like an echo of 1980.
There’s a BBC/PBS documentary that would be worth a watch if you can’t stomach a 500 page book (this took me forever to read), but at the very least go watch Grace Jones’ “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You)” video. You’ll be happy you did.
April 7, 2024
A wonderful tribute to a unique painter and human being.
I myself lived through those years, a homosexual and a painter , more uptown and not as clubby and druggy as Keith Haring's world and the book touched me deeply. It is beautifully written, lacking in some humor at the beginnings at least for me but ever so sad at the end. It brought Keith Haring to life for all of us, always
I myself lived through those years, a homosexual and a painter , more uptown and not as clubby and druggy as Keith Haring's world and the book touched me deeply. It is beautifully written, lacking in some humor at the beginnings at least for me but ever so sad at the end. It brought Keith Haring to life for all of us, always
September 30, 2025
If you are not already a fan of Kieth Haring’s work, or if you are not familiar with his output, this book would not serve as a good introduction. For one thing it lacks a lot of photographs of the artist’s work. It has some, but not enough to provide the uninitiated with appropriate context. I am not faulting the book here, I am only pointing out that there are other books on the same topic that allow you to bask in the visuals. And since Kieth was a visual artist . . .
That said I sort of fell into this book heart first and hardly came up for air until the ending, which naturally had me in tears. To this day I still remember where I was when I first heard of Kieth’s passing. I felt this loss as hard as the loss of a relative or a beloved pet. Both he and his art meant a lot to me and its loss signalled for me one of those holes from his paintings that barking dogs jumped through.
NYC in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s was alive with throbbing promise. This was one of the last periods of time when a young artist could afford to actually live there and gather with like minded imaginations to conjure up a new language for life and creative expression. And a new language was what Haring imported to the black canvas of the subway walls. It was a language for which there was no dictionary, but none was needed, for when people saw his chalk drawings, repeated in station after station, they each independently conjured up some meaning. The more these visions were shared, the larger and more cohesive that meaning became.
This was art brought to the masses. Kieth was insistent that he was much more than a mere illustrator, but a fine artist in his own right. Like his heroes before him (namely Disney and Warhol), he felt compelled to create work that was not only accessible, but affordable (he capped his museum pieces at no more than $9,999, though today they fetch much more in resale). He crossed all kinds of class boundaries with his work and was criticized and diminished for his popularity, but the fact that his work still resonated decades after his untimely death speaks volumes. Art, after all, is supposed to feel universal, and the sorts of people who gravitated toward Keith's art and became lifelong fans still leaves the art world scratching its head in elitist awe.
This volume successfully brought me back to the NYC of such promise, the pulsating sounds that blasted from the Paradise Garage, the neon colored subway trains, the breakdancing and hip-hop, the trance inducing house music, and the joy of being alive to dance until dawn. I don’t mean to sound nostalgic here for this was also the time of the emerging “gay cancer” that turned funerals into the week's most crowded social event, at least toward the end when some of the heat was starting to dissipate. All good things must come to an end.
Haring was an artist of his time and he very much helped to make and define that time, at least for me but I am sure for many others as well. I am thankful to the author of this book for allowing me to remember and somewhat relive those exciting times when it began to feel, at least for a brief moment, that our collective recognition of a world going mad could materialize into a slim hope that we might dance long enough to effect some positive change. We have this book and Kieth’s artistic legacy to thank for that.
That said I sort of fell into this book heart first and hardly came up for air until the ending, which naturally had me in tears. To this day I still remember where I was when I first heard of Kieth’s passing. I felt this loss as hard as the loss of a relative or a beloved pet. Both he and his art meant a lot to me and its loss signalled for me one of those holes from his paintings that barking dogs jumped through.
NYC in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s was alive with throbbing promise. This was one of the last periods of time when a young artist could afford to actually live there and gather with like minded imaginations to conjure up a new language for life and creative expression. And a new language was what Haring imported to the black canvas of the subway walls. It was a language for which there was no dictionary, but none was needed, for when people saw his chalk drawings, repeated in station after station, they each independently conjured up some meaning. The more these visions were shared, the larger and more cohesive that meaning became.
This was art brought to the masses. Kieth was insistent that he was much more than a mere illustrator, but a fine artist in his own right. Like his heroes before him (namely Disney and Warhol), he felt compelled to create work that was not only accessible, but affordable (he capped his museum pieces at no more than $9,999, though today they fetch much more in resale). He crossed all kinds of class boundaries with his work and was criticized and diminished for his popularity, but the fact that his work still resonated decades after his untimely death speaks volumes. Art, after all, is supposed to feel universal, and the sorts of people who gravitated toward Keith's art and became lifelong fans still leaves the art world scratching its head in elitist awe.
This volume successfully brought me back to the NYC of such promise, the pulsating sounds that blasted from the Paradise Garage, the neon colored subway trains, the breakdancing and hip-hop, the trance inducing house music, and the joy of being alive to dance until dawn. I don’t mean to sound nostalgic here for this was also the time of the emerging “gay cancer” that turned funerals into the week's most crowded social event, at least toward the end when some of the heat was starting to dissipate. All good things must come to an end.
Haring was an artist of his time and he very much helped to make and define that time, at least for me but I am sure for many others as well. I am thankful to the author of this book for allowing me to remember and somewhat relive those exciting times when it began to feel, at least for a brief moment, that our collective recognition of a world going mad could materialize into a slim hope that we might dance long enough to effect some positive change. We have this book and Kieth’s artistic legacy to thank for that.
September 26, 2024
Absolutely loved learning about Keith Haring, his approach to art, and his overall legacy. Teared up at the end 🥲
January 16, 2026
Redakcją chyba zajmowało się AI, nigdy nie spotkałam książki z tyloma błędami/pomyłkami?? Ale sama książka w treści 10/10 I love Keith Haring
June 6, 2024
Wow. This biography of Keith Haring was SO good. I devoured it. It’s an almost 20 hour audiobook, and normally I mostly listen to audiobooks on my commute. I’m off work this week, so I found myself listening to this one constantly. Making dinner, cleaning, doing laundry, eating, sitting on the porch… I could not get enough.
It’s so funny that I didn’t know Keith Haring by name, but I looked up his name with “artist” and the very first image was The Radiant Baby, which I had seen before!
One thing I truly loved about this novel was the deep dive into his early life, especially his time spent in Pittsburgh. I had no idea he was an apprentice at The Mattress Factory (an amazing modern art museum in Pittsburgh that I visited a few years ago). That was super fun to find out!
Keith had relatable struggles I feel, especially with his looks. While he was confident in his art, his personal life did not always show the same confidence. I thought it was so cool how randomly other famous people show up in this biography (particularly Madonna) and I loved the linear way the story of his life was told.
Keith was such an interesting man whose life was cut so short. The chapter about his death at the end was so sad to see him deteriorate so quickly.
If you’re looking for a portrait of an 80s artist who was political and still had important ties to the art community today - this one is for you. The audio was fantastic as well! I truly enjoyed the narrator.
It’s so funny that I didn’t know Keith Haring by name, but I looked up his name with “artist” and the very first image was The Radiant Baby, which I had seen before!
One thing I truly loved about this novel was the deep dive into his early life, especially his time spent in Pittsburgh. I had no idea he was an apprentice at The Mattress Factory (an amazing modern art museum in Pittsburgh that I visited a few years ago). That was super fun to find out!
Keith had relatable struggles I feel, especially with his looks. While he was confident in his art, his personal life did not always show the same confidence. I thought it was so cool how randomly other famous people show up in this biography (particularly Madonna) and I loved the linear way the story of his life was told.
Keith was such an interesting man whose life was cut so short. The chapter about his death at the end was so sad to see him deteriorate so quickly.
If you’re looking for a portrait of an 80s artist who was political and still had important ties to the art community today - this one is for you. The audio was fantastic as well! I truly enjoyed the narrator.
September 28, 2026
The radiant baby himself! I have always had a great fondness for Keith Haring’s art and even did a mixed media project on him for an English course when I was in college. I was excited to learn more about his life and legacy as an artist and human being. I was not disappointed. Although I am unfamiliar/uninterested with the 1980s New York art scene as a whole, I loved looking at the culture through the eyes of a star struck college dropout from Pennsylvania. I didn’t know he was such good friends with Andy Warhol and Madonna! Haring was such a unique person with a passion for art, children, education, and just helping people out. He used his sharpies and paints for good and defined an entire era of art in New York City. I am so happy his legacy continues to live on, especially through children’s art. My brother painted a Keith Haring inspired Radiant Baby in elementary school and it hangs on my kitchen wall to this day. How can you not feel happy seeing his bold lines and bright colors?
January 8, 2025
Comprehensive. It really takes you along for the ups and downs of Keith’s short but brilliant life. Sometimes I thought, is his art just whatever? And other times I thought he’s a genius and major artist, especially as he developed into the late 80s. Could’ve been more dishy, but I think every memoir could be more dishy; it’s kind of what I’m there for. I had no idea he and Andy Warhol had such a close relationship but makes sense. I loved hearing about his sweet times interacting, taking care of, and making art with children; it spoke to his innocence, which he never really shed. I would’ve dropped major cash at the Pop Shop! Would recommend.
March 1, 2026
Bardzo polecam, szczególnie, jeżeli chcecie poznać bardziej ludzką stronę. Książka bazuje na wypowiedziach innych ludzi, co pokazuje jakim człowiekiem był Haring na co dzień, jako człowiek, a nie jako artysty. Jego biografia ma kilka nieprzyjemnych momentów, ale mimo wszystko Keith Haring był artystą mocno zaangażowanym nie tylko w problemu społeczne, ale także wiele zrobił dla dzieci. Przykład artysty, który tworzy z miłości do sztuki.
Momentami się dłużyła. Zawiera też bardzo obszerną bibliografię. Uważam, że warto poczytać o Haringu - jeżeli nie tę książkę, to chociaż jakiś artykuł, żeby zrozumieć, że jego sztuka to nie tylko jakieś tam kreski bez znaczenia, ale przede wszystkim potężny manifest.
Momentami się dłużyła. Zawiera też bardzo obszerną bibliografię. Uważam, że warto poczytać o Haringu - jeżeli nie tę książkę, to chociaż jakiś artykuł, żeby zrozumieć, że jego sztuka to nie tylko jakieś tam kreski bez znaczenia, ale przede wszystkim potężny manifest.
July 17, 2025
The first piece of Keith Haring art I remember seeing was the cover of 1987’s A Very Special Christmas and for whatever reason, I was just immediately drawn to him. After reading this biography, I think I have a better understanding of why - his art was a whole extension of his being and transmitted everything he believed in.
I’m such a fan of biographies that not only tell a persons life story, but serve as a time capsule for the period they lived in and this was exactly that. Equally beautiful and devastating, I feel like I walked away with an even greater appreciation for Keith Haring’s art, message, and person.
I’m such a fan of biographies that not only tell a persons life story, but serve as a time capsule for the period they lived in and this was exactly that. Equally beautiful and devastating, I feel like I walked away with an even greater appreciation for Keith Haring’s art, message, and person.
August 6, 2024
truth I did only read the first 100 pages and the last 150 because I had to return my book to the library sjdjdjdj but this book was so wow, really tuned you into the man that keith was. i felt like I was reading his personal journals and seeing his art in a whole other light. he was so awesome, and a great gay icon<3 makes sense why him and madonna were besties
August 20, 2025
SIX WORD REVIEW: The despair & resolve he felt diagnosed.
August 26, 2025
Occasionally clumsy but overall interesting and compelling and atmospheric. S/o to @kasey
January 25, 2026
4.5 Bardzo dobra autobiografia. Niestety przeszkadza brak redakcji i duża ilość błędów.
October 2, 2024
This is an exhaustive biography of Keith Haring. I didn’t care for how it was organized. Are we in 1982 or 1987? It kept changing.
August 15, 2025
it seems that artists are never ready to die
February 28, 2026
Keith Haring haben wir damals in der Grundschule durchgenommen und ich weiss noch, dass ich seinen Stil und seine Person sehr spannend fand. Wie viel von seiner Lebensgeschichte uns die damalige Lehrperson erzählte, weiss ich aber nicht mehr.
Dafür weiss ich nach der Lektüre dieser Biographie ganz bestimmt mehr als damals. Ich hoffe, ich kann mir auch nur einen Bruchteil all dieser Informationen merken. Brad Gooch hat sich richtig viel Mühe gegeben und sich ganz tief reingekniet. All diese Informationen, Gespräche, Zitate und was noch alles zusammenzutragen muss enorm viel Arbeit gewesen sein.
Und dies zeigt sich auch. Es ist eine grandiose Biographie, welche vor allem Fans und Kunstinteressierten ein solides Fundament zur Person Harings bietet. Für alle, die nur einen Überblick möchten, geht dieses Buch zu sehr in die Tiefe. Auch ist es empfehlenswert, wenn sich Lesende schon mit den Kunstwerken Harings auskennen. Dies wird zu einem Teil vorausgesetzt.
Kein Wunder, hat dieses Werk einen Lammy abgesahnt. Und Gooch hätte dafür noch viel mehr verdient.
Dafür weiss ich nach der Lektüre dieser Biographie ganz bestimmt mehr als damals. Ich hoffe, ich kann mir auch nur einen Bruchteil all dieser Informationen merken. Brad Gooch hat sich richtig viel Mühe gegeben und sich ganz tief reingekniet. All diese Informationen, Gespräche, Zitate und was noch alles zusammenzutragen muss enorm viel Arbeit gewesen sein.
Und dies zeigt sich auch. Es ist eine grandiose Biographie, welche vor allem Fans und Kunstinteressierten ein solides Fundament zur Person Harings bietet. Für alle, die nur einen Überblick möchten, geht dieses Buch zu sehr in die Tiefe. Auch ist es empfehlenswert, wenn sich Lesende schon mit den Kunstwerken Harings auskennen. Dies wird zu einem Teil vorausgesetzt.
Kein Wunder, hat dieses Werk einen Lammy abgesahnt. Und Gooch hätte dafür noch viel mehr verdient.
July 29, 2025
This book! I can’t say it’s for everyone, but wow was it fascinating and comprehensive about Haring, his art, and his world. The historical context was smart and despite knowing how it ended, I still cried at the end. Long live Keith Haring.
June 4, 2026
really really enjoyed this! thoroughly well-researched and extensive biography but also a great resource for history of 1980s new york specifically the arts scene in the east village and the impact of the AIDS epidemic. keith haring was a one of a kind artist and i learned a lot about him and what inspired his artwork. also madonna was mentioned throughout which was soooo tea and i loved learning that her and keith used to have a little rivalry when it came to boys and that keith and other east village gays used to call her "boytoy" which is what inspired her iconic like a virgin belt and the name of her production company. keith's impact!!!
February 16, 2026
This solid book comes out a little flat in the end. While it tries to explain what made Keith Haring so great, it doesn't quite complete the task. Same with the rollicking, promiscuous, utterly exhausting life that Haring enjoyed. It's documented here in ridiculous detail, but somehow it doesn't quite convey what it would have been like. Maybe the gap reflects the impossibility of putting into words what it would feel like to be drugged up for hours, dancing to music too loud to scream over, sweating with hundreds (thousands) of chic boys and girls. But I feel like many authors have given a better sense of that type of sensual atmosphere, even if they had to resort to over-the-top language and hallucinogenic metaphor to do so. Biographer Brad Gooch perhaps misses his chance by using plainer language even when describing the excesses of an outrageous time and place.
I lived in NYC during the last years of Haring's life and, thus, the height of his fame. I didn't pay attention. I was living uptown, and Haring was downtown. I rarely went to the Village, where he made his mark, and while I did pop in and out of Chelsea, which was a burgeoning artist area that he frequented, I went for more established music, not for the club scene. I saw Haring's artwork == his dancing people and giant hearts -- all over the place, though I don't know if any were original paintings, rather than commercial reprints. I wasn't a nightlife guy, nor was I an AIDS activist, so I trafficked in one of New York's many other giant circles of activities (in my case, academia and the Mets). Throughout the book I thought about the fact that I was a few miles north of the stuff going on in the latter part of the book but didn't pay any more attention than occasionally flipping through photos in some magazine abandoned on the subway. And, of course, I wouldn't have been able to get into any of the hip clubs anyway.
Despite me feeling like the book didn't fully capture Haring's energy, it is a spirited love poem to him. It gives a strongly positive perspective on him, both as a person and as an artist, and I get the sense that he didn't always get that respect when he was alive. The author quotes numerous snobby reviews of Haring's work that called him an illustrator, a populist, rather than a fine artist. This bothered Haring to some degree, but he also knew that he was pursuing a vision to bring art to the masses, and that was a worthy cause. This book does a great job of explaining how Haring did it and was an original at doing so, even though he also adopted the ideas of subway graffiti artists. Haring developed from his teenage years a series of symbols that he would work and rework all his life, showering them in brilliant colors like cartoons and 1960s sitcom furniture (which he loved) and bold, black outlines. These included dancing people, hearts, the crawling baby that was his signature, penises (lots of penises), farm animals, stars, flying saucers. He would labyrinth these on small panels of paper or cardboard, and later on huge canvases or tarps, filling every inch with icons in every direction. It was (and still is) arrestingly vibrant on first sight. And the best of the work delivers additional messages when viewed for longer.
Haring was prolific, doing a dozen drawings or paintings in a day, or covering a 300-square foot mural space in 24 coke-fueled hours. He didn't seem to repeat the same work, even though he was often using those same icons. He would add new images relevant to the setting or to comment on a current event, using his signature elements to emphasize a point. One example that I found fascinating about this approach is that Haring was either commissioned to do murals in children's hospitals or did them as charitable works over and over. He loved kids and ached that they were suffering. When he did these, he did hopeful scenes of love, animals, sunshine, and so on. But he wouldn't put his sex references on those murals because he didn't feel it was appropriate. While he was as "out" about his sexuality as a person could be, he felt there was a time and a place, and that people should have boundaries. Another example: his two longest lovers were young Hispanic men. But while the relationship with the second was fading, he met another Hispanic man who wasn't gay, and that guy became his companion and friend to the end of his life. But that man didn't sleep with Haring and said that he was accepted as a friend and soulmate without pressure.
The amount of work that Haring did is dizzying. He died of AIDS in his early 30s, and there are something like 10,000 original works of his. This doesn't even count all the chalk drawings on ad panels in the subway that were either taken down by authorities or later taken by collectors. Haring drew incessantly, whether tagging his crawling baby on a wall or passing out sheets on which he doodled a man to passersby at a restaurant. It seems like he walked around in a daze of vision, kind of like the way virtual reality headsets work today in "enhancing" what you see as you go down the street. Haring could do that on his own.
On top of that, he brought together the worlds of graffiti artists, who were mostly (not always) Black and Hispanic, with the downtown, educated art world. Haring didn't just admire graffiti artists; he sought them out, he shared their enthusiasms, he helped them and was careful not to appropriate their work, but to do his own thing. There are dozens of those graffiti and skateboard and rapper types who he helped and literally welcomed into his home and into art shows and parties, all in an effort to bridge divides. We take for granted the way pop culture is art culture and that pop culture can be monetized (commercials, sneakers, etc.). Keith Haring made a lot of that happen, building on the impact of Andy Warhol, one of his art heroes and a man he became close friends with. Haring's friendship with Basquiat also is detailed in this book, and it's given a positive gloss that, apparently, was viewed differently by the art media of the time. They tried to set the two men up as competitors, but really they were collaborators, admirers and friends. Haring basically only had friends.
The schedule that the author reveals of Haring's life, which Haring documented in diaries and which his small staff of assistants helped him to keep, is staggering. In a two-week period, he might fly to Paris for an opening of his paintings and in an afternoon paint a hallway for the art gallery, but also go to a hospital and do a mural. Then he'd party all night and take a train the next day to Germany, where he'd look over sites for a proposed mural. Then he would go to the Amalfi coast and spend a few days with friends, always reserving most of his attention to playing with their kids. And then he'd race back to Paris and fly home in time for an all-night dance party, and then the next day fly to Los Angeles to prepare for another opening. Really, he did this type of thing a lot. It's mind-boggling that he could handle the pace, let alone continue to evolve as an artist. You think about rock bands that go on tour for 200 days. They say they are so exhausted that they can't write good new songs. Keith Haring could do the equivalent.
If there's one sour note I have about this book, its that I found the listings of show openings and the people who attended them to be boring and repetitive. I don't care if Madonna or Steve Rubell went to such and such an opening, or that so-and-so collector bought a bunch of pieces and put them in her house. I realize why that's in the book, as it shows how Haring's circle encompassed both serious art collectors and the party-scene NY types. But there's just too much name-dropping in this book. I didn't find it interesting reading when I was in New York and it was happening at the time, and I find it even less interesting 40 years later.
On the other hand, the author's reflections on Haring's loving relationship with his parents is fascinating. He was different than them -- he grew up in the small town of Kutztown, PA, not far from Philadelphia. They were conservative and he was rebellious, smoking weed and doing LSD by the middle of high school. All he ever wanted to be was a famous artist, and while he had girlfriends as a teen he said it was obvious that he also liked boys. He left for art school and never looked back, doing things like a cross-country hitchhike trip with a girlfriend at age 19, and moving to NYC at 20. And he never told his family he was gay or that he was dying from AIDS. But at the same time, they knew he was gay and were kind to his boyfriends, and they supported him to the end, both coming to his openings, traveling with him once on a whirlwind Europe tour, and being with him on the day he died. They loved each other, even if they didn't quite understand each other.
And I think that dichotomy summarizes a lot about Keith Haring. He loved the world and the people in it, and they loved him back, even if they didn't fully understand the depths of his seriousness about art and his commitment to making the world a better place.
I lived in NYC during the last years of Haring's life and, thus, the height of his fame. I didn't pay attention. I was living uptown, and Haring was downtown. I rarely went to the Village, where he made his mark, and while I did pop in and out of Chelsea, which was a burgeoning artist area that he frequented, I went for more established music, not for the club scene. I saw Haring's artwork == his dancing people and giant hearts -- all over the place, though I don't know if any were original paintings, rather than commercial reprints. I wasn't a nightlife guy, nor was I an AIDS activist, so I trafficked in one of New York's many other giant circles of activities (in my case, academia and the Mets). Throughout the book I thought about the fact that I was a few miles north of the stuff going on in the latter part of the book but didn't pay any more attention than occasionally flipping through photos in some magazine abandoned on the subway. And, of course, I wouldn't have been able to get into any of the hip clubs anyway.
Despite me feeling like the book didn't fully capture Haring's energy, it is a spirited love poem to him. It gives a strongly positive perspective on him, both as a person and as an artist, and I get the sense that he didn't always get that respect when he was alive. The author quotes numerous snobby reviews of Haring's work that called him an illustrator, a populist, rather than a fine artist. This bothered Haring to some degree, but he also knew that he was pursuing a vision to bring art to the masses, and that was a worthy cause. This book does a great job of explaining how Haring did it and was an original at doing so, even though he also adopted the ideas of subway graffiti artists. Haring developed from his teenage years a series of symbols that he would work and rework all his life, showering them in brilliant colors like cartoons and 1960s sitcom furniture (which he loved) and bold, black outlines. These included dancing people, hearts, the crawling baby that was his signature, penises (lots of penises), farm animals, stars, flying saucers. He would labyrinth these on small panels of paper or cardboard, and later on huge canvases or tarps, filling every inch with icons in every direction. It was (and still is) arrestingly vibrant on first sight. And the best of the work delivers additional messages when viewed for longer.
Haring was prolific, doing a dozen drawings or paintings in a day, or covering a 300-square foot mural space in 24 coke-fueled hours. He didn't seem to repeat the same work, even though he was often using those same icons. He would add new images relevant to the setting or to comment on a current event, using his signature elements to emphasize a point. One example that I found fascinating about this approach is that Haring was either commissioned to do murals in children's hospitals or did them as charitable works over and over. He loved kids and ached that they were suffering. When he did these, he did hopeful scenes of love, animals, sunshine, and so on. But he wouldn't put his sex references on those murals because he didn't feel it was appropriate. While he was as "out" about his sexuality as a person could be, he felt there was a time and a place, and that people should have boundaries. Another example: his two longest lovers were young Hispanic men. But while the relationship with the second was fading, he met another Hispanic man who wasn't gay, and that guy became his companion and friend to the end of his life. But that man didn't sleep with Haring and said that he was accepted as a friend and soulmate without pressure.
The amount of work that Haring did is dizzying. He died of AIDS in his early 30s, and there are something like 10,000 original works of his. This doesn't even count all the chalk drawings on ad panels in the subway that were either taken down by authorities or later taken by collectors. Haring drew incessantly, whether tagging his crawling baby on a wall or passing out sheets on which he doodled a man to passersby at a restaurant. It seems like he walked around in a daze of vision, kind of like the way virtual reality headsets work today in "enhancing" what you see as you go down the street. Haring could do that on his own.
On top of that, he brought together the worlds of graffiti artists, who were mostly (not always) Black and Hispanic, with the downtown, educated art world. Haring didn't just admire graffiti artists; he sought them out, he shared their enthusiasms, he helped them and was careful not to appropriate their work, but to do his own thing. There are dozens of those graffiti and skateboard and rapper types who he helped and literally welcomed into his home and into art shows and parties, all in an effort to bridge divides. We take for granted the way pop culture is art culture and that pop culture can be monetized (commercials, sneakers, etc.). Keith Haring made a lot of that happen, building on the impact of Andy Warhol, one of his art heroes and a man he became close friends with. Haring's friendship with Basquiat also is detailed in this book, and it's given a positive gloss that, apparently, was viewed differently by the art media of the time. They tried to set the two men up as competitors, but really they were collaborators, admirers and friends. Haring basically only had friends.
The schedule that the author reveals of Haring's life, which Haring documented in diaries and which his small staff of assistants helped him to keep, is staggering. In a two-week period, he might fly to Paris for an opening of his paintings and in an afternoon paint a hallway for the art gallery, but also go to a hospital and do a mural. Then he'd party all night and take a train the next day to Germany, where he'd look over sites for a proposed mural. Then he would go to the Amalfi coast and spend a few days with friends, always reserving most of his attention to playing with their kids. And then he'd race back to Paris and fly home in time for an all-night dance party, and then the next day fly to Los Angeles to prepare for another opening. Really, he did this type of thing a lot. It's mind-boggling that he could handle the pace, let alone continue to evolve as an artist. You think about rock bands that go on tour for 200 days. They say they are so exhausted that they can't write good new songs. Keith Haring could do the equivalent.
If there's one sour note I have about this book, its that I found the listings of show openings and the people who attended them to be boring and repetitive. I don't care if Madonna or Steve Rubell went to such and such an opening, or that so-and-so collector bought a bunch of pieces and put them in her house. I realize why that's in the book, as it shows how Haring's circle encompassed both serious art collectors and the party-scene NY types. But there's just too much name-dropping in this book. I didn't find it interesting reading when I was in New York and it was happening at the time, and I find it even less interesting 40 years later.
On the other hand, the author's reflections on Haring's loving relationship with his parents is fascinating. He was different than them -- he grew up in the small town of Kutztown, PA, not far from Philadelphia. They were conservative and he was rebellious, smoking weed and doing LSD by the middle of high school. All he ever wanted to be was a famous artist, and while he had girlfriends as a teen he said it was obvious that he also liked boys. He left for art school and never looked back, doing things like a cross-country hitchhike trip with a girlfriend at age 19, and moving to NYC at 20. And he never told his family he was gay or that he was dying from AIDS. But at the same time, they knew he was gay and were kind to his boyfriends, and they supported him to the end, both coming to his openings, traveling with him once on a whirlwind Europe tour, and being with him on the day he died. They loved each other, even if they didn't quite understand each other.
And I think that dichotomy summarizes a lot about Keith Haring. He loved the world and the people in it, and they loved him back, even if they didn't fully understand the depths of his seriousness about art and his commitment to making the world a better place.
June 26, 2024
Beautifully and lovingly written, this tome by Brad Gooch covers the entire life of Keith Haring. I have read several other books on his life, but this was the most comprehensive that I have come across. The book starts with telling the story of how Keith's parents met and settled in Kutztown, PA to raise their small family. The were conservative and products of the 50's, not a part of the counter culture that their son embraced at an early age. Keith seemed to have an early awareness of his sexuality at an early age, but also had girlfriends (even a serious one) through his teenage years and early twenties.
The second part of the book, focuses on Keith's metoric rise in the art world, his friendships with Basquiat and Warhol, as well as his relationships with Juan DuBose and others.
The final part raises the spectre of AIDS as well of the death of Warhol and Basquiat, Keith's many other friends and lovers, and ultimately Keith.
I was surprised to learn that even on Keith's deathbed he and his family never spoke openly about his Queerness even though he had had boyfriends and it being a central part of his work.
Keith may be said to some to have sold out to the art world, but I disagree. He brought an accessibility and fun to high art and gave other young people finding themselves hope and dignity.
The second part of the book, focuses on Keith's metoric rise in the art world, his friendships with Basquiat and Warhol, as well as his relationships with Juan DuBose and others.
The final part raises the spectre of AIDS as well of the death of Warhol and Basquiat, Keith's many other friends and lovers, and ultimately Keith.
I was surprised to learn that even on Keith's deathbed he and his family never spoke openly about his Queerness even though he had had boyfriends and it being a central part of his work.
Keith may be said to some to have sold out to the art world, but I disagree. He brought an accessibility and fun to high art and gave other young people finding themselves hope and dignity.
August 13, 2024
I listened to this as an audio book and it took about a month of listening off and on.
Keith Haring is the originator of the term and practice of 'artivism' as a gay man living through the 60's - 90's, seeing and being afflicted by the AIDS crisis, and eventually passing from AIDS Related Complications later in his life after being told he no longer had AIDS. He grew up in a suburb to a simple family in a rural area, learning art from the get go and practicing shared creativity with his father. He was defiant in youth, and remained so throughout his entire life. He never wanted to blend in, and wanted to stand out - having SOMETHING to SAY! Keith Haring also loved kids, and led a lot of child-friendly art events and invited children to draw on his murals with him, down to the very somber and heartfelt end. Once Haring made it to New York City, he began being a subway and street graffiti artist. He was enamored with a tagger who he later found out was Jean-Michel Basquiat. He became close friends throughout his entire life with him. He also knew Andy Warhol closely. These American artists were some of the greats. Keith Haring was widely known for his staunch support of public health education and touched on AIDS in a lot of his work. It changed his entire life. However, long before his diagnosis, he was also reinventing the wheel so to speak in the world of design. With his iconic symbols - characters you could call them, as they took on a life of their own and became repeated imagery in his lexicon of graphics and parts of his identity to choose from. He also often reflected the world in his world. From crawling newborn babies, to barking dogs, to giant penises forcibly turned into "snakes" after the local French authorities took offense to the mural of two queer men jacking each other off. Keith Haring left a huge impact wherever he went, always leaving murals in his wake. He did them for free, sometimes for pay, sometimes for a meal, sometimes for a story, or a favor. Or for an activist's cause. He also fought back against the "war on drugs" from a personal position of losing friends to crack cocaine. Although the "war on drugs" became a pipeline to forced prison labor for communities of colour enacted by the Reagan administration, some of the efforts had the right idea and that idea is what Keith drew upon when making his technically illegal mural - his mural being where the term "CRACK IS WHACK" originated from during the Reagan era. After being jailed for painting the mural, he was recognized for the efforts to fight back against cocaine addiction and death and the mural was made into a historical marker. There's so many other big moments too.
Above all to understand Keith Haring is to understand his ideas on "art is for everybody" which was represented in how he supported and uplifted fellow artists around himself. He also eventually opened a "pop shop" that brought his art down from the galleries in to the masses' hands for an affordable cost on t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, etc.
There is so many layers to Keith Haring's brief life that he spent on this world. He did not live past the beginning of his 30's. He died lovingly surrounded by family and those who loved him in his life and knew him. His parents held him close as he passed from AIDS related complications in 1990.
As an artist, Keith Haring is now a phenomenal and needed example that inspires me to work harder and be kinder and get the message out today about our current pandemic - the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to take the same passion Keith had to the world of 'artivism' in modern day. May Keith's memory always be a blessing to everyone who thinks of him, I know his work and existence does so for me. <3
Thank you Keith Haring.
Keith Haring is the originator of the term and practice of 'artivism' as a gay man living through the 60's - 90's, seeing and being afflicted by the AIDS crisis, and eventually passing from AIDS Related Complications later in his life after being told he no longer had AIDS. He grew up in a suburb to a simple family in a rural area, learning art from the get go and practicing shared creativity with his father. He was defiant in youth, and remained so throughout his entire life. He never wanted to blend in, and wanted to stand out - having SOMETHING to SAY! Keith Haring also loved kids, and led a lot of child-friendly art events and invited children to draw on his murals with him, down to the very somber and heartfelt end. Once Haring made it to New York City, he began being a subway and street graffiti artist. He was enamored with a tagger who he later found out was Jean-Michel Basquiat. He became close friends throughout his entire life with him. He also knew Andy Warhol closely. These American artists were some of the greats. Keith Haring was widely known for his staunch support of public health education and touched on AIDS in a lot of his work. It changed his entire life. However, long before his diagnosis, he was also reinventing the wheel so to speak in the world of design. With his iconic symbols - characters you could call them, as they took on a life of their own and became repeated imagery in his lexicon of graphics and parts of his identity to choose from. He also often reflected the world in his world. From crawling newborn babies, to barking dogs, to giant penises forcibly turned into "snakes" after the local French authorities took offense to the mural of two queer men jacking each other off. Keith Haring left a huge impact wherever he went, always leaving murals in his wake. He did them for free, sometimes for pay, sometimes for a meal, sometimes for a story, or a favor. Or for an activist's cause. He also fought back against the "war on drugs" from a personal position of losing friends to crack cocaine. Although the "war on drugs" became a pipeline to forced prison labor for communities of colour enacted by the Reagan administration, some of the efforts had the right idea and that idea is what Keith drew upon when making his technically illegal mural - his mural being where the term "CRACK IS WHACK" originated from during the Reagan era. After being jailed for painting the mural, he was recognized for the efforts to fight back against cocaine addiction and death and the mural was made into a historical marker. There's so many other big moments too.
Above all to understand Keith Haring is to understand his ideas on "art is for everybody" which was represented in how he supported and uplifted fellow artists around himself. He also eventually opened a "pop shop" that brought his art down from the galleries in to the masses' hands for an affordable cost on t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, etc.
There is so many layers to Keith Haring's brief life that he spent on this world. He did not live past the beginning of his 30's. He died lovingly surrounded by family and those who loved him in his life and knew him. His parents held him close as he passed from AIDS related complications in 1990.
As an artist, Keith Haring is now a phenomenal and needed example that inspires me to work harder and be kinder and get the message out today about our current pandemic - the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to take the same passion Keith had to the world of 'artivism' in modern day. May Keith's memory always be a blessing to everyone who thinks of him, I know his work and existence does so for me. <3
Thank you Keith Haring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2024
Such An Awesome Biography
I rode New York City subways a lot in the 80s so I was no stranger to Keith Haring’s art/graffiti even if I didn’t yet know his name. And when I first saw the “Crack is Wack” handball wall in East Harlem I knew immediately it was from the same artist. But it probably wasn’t till I bought my first “Very Special Christmas” CD that I learned his name.
I’m not exactly a connoisseur of fine art so Haring’s pop art speaks to me in its simplicity. Like punk music, there’s a feeling with his drawings and paintings that anyone could do it. And that makes it ever more accessible and understandable.
This book was an awesome recap of Haring’s amazing but short life and career. Knowing the fate he’d meet, I felt a sense of oncoming doom throughout. And considering the manic pace that Haring worked at, perhaps he felt it too. Certainly by the mid-eighties, as so many of Haring’s friends were dying of AIDs, he knew there was a chance he’d be next. Indeed in his journals around that time he speaks of a fear of dying and a longing to live a little longer (uncommon thoughts for your typical twenty-something). Such was the mood in New York City at the time, particularly in the gay community where the sense that the party was over was an ever present Damocles sword.
Haring became every bit a pop star in his time, hanging with the likes of Madonna and Brooke Shields and Boy George and spending night after night dancing his ass off in the best New York City clubs of the eighties. And his fame brought him around the world, giving him the opportunity to paint murals everywhere, including his favorite project ever: the Berlin Wall. Through his own words from interviews and his journals, and those of his closest confidants and lovers, we learn of Haring’s passion for art and how he believed it could positively change the world (which is why he gave so much of it away for free).
This was a great, uplifting book. Until the end, when it became a great, tragic book. Such is the case with so many artists who leave us long before their time. But at least we have his oeuvre to remind us of who he was and how simple yet powerful a paint brush or a magic marker or even just a piece of chalk can be.
In her eulogy to her brother, Haring’s sister Kay said Keith had taught her “That a wall was meant to be drawn on, a Saturday night was meant for partying, and that life is meant for celebrating.” I took similar messages and inspiration from this book
I rode New York City subways a lot in the 80s so I was no stranger to Keith Haring’s art/graffiti even if I didn’t yet know his name. And when I first saw the “Crack is Wack” handball wall in East Harlem I knew immediately it was from the same artist. But it probably wasn’t till I bought my first “Very Special Christmas” CD that I learned his name.
I’m not exactly a connoisseur of fine art so Haring’s pop art speaks to me in its simplicity. Like punk music, there’s a feeling with his drawings and paintings that anyone could do it. And that makes it ever more accessible and understandable.
This book was an awesome recap of Haring’s amazing but short life and career. Knowing the fate he’d meet, I felt a sense of oncoming doom throughout. And considering the manic pace that Haring worked at, perhaps he felt it too. Certainly by the mid-eighties, as so many of Haring’s friends were dying of AIDs, he knew there was a chance he’d be next. Indeed in his journals around that time he speaks of a fear of dying and a longing to live a little longer (uncommon thoughts for your typical twenty-something). Such was the mood in New York City at the time, particularly in the gay community where the sense that the party was over was an ever present Damocles sword.
Haring became every bit a pop star in his time, hanging with the likes of Madonna and Brooke Shields and Boy George and spending night after night dancing his ass off in the best New York City clubs of the eighties. And his fame brought him around the world, giving him the opportunity to paint murals everywhere, including his favorite project ever: the Berlin Wall. Through his own words from interviews and his journals, and those of his closest confidants and lovers, we learn of Haring’s passion for art and how he believed it could positively change the world (which is why he gave so much of it away for free).
This was a great, uplifting book. Until the end, when it became a great, tragic book. Such is the case with so many artists who leave us long before their time. But at least we have his oeuvre to remind us of who he was and how simple yet powerful a paint brush or a magic marker or even just a piece of chalk can be.
In her eulogy to her brother, Haring’s sister Kay said Keith had taught her “That a wall was meant to be drawn on, a Saturday night was meant for partying, and that life is meant for celebrating.” I took similar messages and inspiration from this book
February 17, 2025
Welcome to my most unhinged review.
Brad Gooch’s Keith Haring: come for the man the myth the legend, stay for random gossip about Madonna, Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Klaus Nomi, and last but not least ***Lee Harvey Oswald*** aka “Ozzie”!
I listened on audiobook which I do recommend, except just be aware that the reader mispronounced a lot of art word names. As a visual artist slash performer, you have to prepare and do your research! Deitch is “DYE-ch” and the Dia Foundation is just Dia, not “D I A”. There is no “t” in Jenny Holzer.
I will concede that when I looked it up after finishing the book I learned that Robert Henri pronounced his name “Hen-rai” so that was correct. Also the French pronunciations sounded legit. (Fun fact is that Haring and David Lynch were both inspired by Henri’s “the art spirit”!)
I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of the voices and accents the voice actor did… he made Keith sound like a himbo. And the Juan Dubose voice… was that… a little bit racist? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Otherwise the narration didn’t bother me. It wasn’t depressing, and kept my attention.
In terms of the book’s ~ actual writing ~ I thought it did a good job balancing various perspectives and critiques on Haring’s work and life choices (power dynamics in all his relationships, taking all those people to Tokyo and being weird about it… hanging out with that young straight guy? Yikes, etc.) while also centering his ongoing push and pull with the commercial art world. The fact that he interned for Shafrazi before being represented by him is the anomaly I didn’t know I needed. The way he met Basquiat is worth reading the book for alone. I loved learning about his relationship to graffiti art and artists and how he approached the medium of painting vs drawing. Having taught at SVA, it was so cute hearing about him as a student being all ~rebellious~. And it was so sweet how good he was with kids— the Sean Lennon quotes are especially illustrative. I came away with a pretty nuanced perspective on Haring that deepened my appreciation of his art practice and his relationship to it.
I don’t know that he seemed like the best friend or boyfriend in the world but I enjoyed learning about him! My main takeaways are that he sure did know how to channel creative energy— the fact he never planned his paintings is truly confuzzling. That and he REALLY loved partying. Paradise Garage 4ever.
Brad Gooch’s Keith Haring: come for the man the myth the legend, stay for random gossip about Madonna, Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Klaus Nomi, and last but not least ***Lee Harvey Oswald*** aka “Ozzie”!
I listened on audiobook which I do recommend, except just be aware that the reader mispronounced a lot of art word names. As a visual artist slash performer, you have to prepare and do your research! Deitch is “DYE-ch” and the Dia Foundation is just Dia, not “D I A”. There is no “t” in Jenny Holzer.
I will concede that when I looked it up after finishing the book I learned that Robert Henri pronounced his name “Hen-rai” so that was correct. Also the French pronunciations sounded legit. (Fun fact is that Haring and David Lynch were both inspired by Henri’s “the art spirit”!)
I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of the voices and accents the voice actor did… he made Keith sound like a himbo. And the Juan Dubose voice… was that… a little bit racist? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Otherwise the narration didn’t bother me. It wasn’t depressing, and kept my attention.
In terms of the book’s ~ actual writing ~ I thought it did a good job balancing various perspectives and critiques on Haring’s work and life choices (power dynamics in all his relationships, taking all those people to Tokyo and being weird about it… hanging out with that young straight guy? Yikes, etc.) while also centering his ongoing push and pull with the commercial art world. The fact that he interned for Shafrazi before being represented by him is the anomaly I didn’t know I needed. The way he met Basquiat is worth reading the book for alone. I loved learning about his relationship to graffiti art and artists and how he approached the medium of painting vs drawing. Having taught at SVA, it was so cute hearing about him as a student being all ~rebellious~. And it was so sweet how good he was with kids— the Sean Lennon quotes are especially illustrative. I came away with a pretty nuanced perspective on Haring that deepened my appreciation of his art practice and his relationship to it.
I don’t know that he seemed like the best friend or boyfriend in the world but I enjoyed learning about him! My main takeaways are that he sure did know how to channel creative energy— the fact he never planned his paintings is truly confuzzling. That and he REALLY loved partying. Paradise Garage 4ever.
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