Haring

by Alexandra Kolossa

By the time of his death from AIDS at the age of 31, Keith Haring (1958-1990) was already a wildly successful and popular artist. Haring's original and instantly recognizable style, full of thick black lines, bold colors, and graffiti-inspired cartoon-like figures, won him the appreciation of both the art world and the general public; his work appeared simultaneously on T-shirts, gallery walls, and public murals. In 1986, Haring founded Pop Shop, a boutique in New York's SoHo selling Haring-designed memorabilia, to benefit charities and help bring his work closer to the public and especially street kids, with whom he never lost contact.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Biography, Biography Memoir, American

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posted at Shelf Inflicted

“I live every day as if it were the last. I love life.”
― Keith Haring, 1987

This is a lovely book and a wonderful introduction to the work of Keith Haring. If you read John Gruen’s biography of the artist and found it lacking in artistic analysis, this book is the perfect companion. Reading both books will provide a full picture of the artist and the man.

I would like to time travel to 1982 to see the Keith Haring exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York, which was given a two-page spread on pages 25 and 26. At that time, I was not yet familiar with the artist’s work. It wasn’t until the late 80’s when I got to know his powerful AIDS-themed works.

I love Haring’s versatility. Starting out with chalk drawings in subway he moved on to a wide variety of surfaces, creating complex designs that were bold, colorful and energetic.

Keith Haring was an artist for the people. Though public recognition was important to him, acceptance by museums was a lot slower in coming. It wasn’t until after his death that his work was shown in major exhibitions.

“Everything happens for a reason. And I’m sure everything always happens at the right time and in the right place.”
― Keith Haring, 1987

The illustrations are well organized and the text is easy on the eyes. This is a worthy addition to any art library.

[Andrew H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cheap and cheerful approach to Haring, a typical Taschen art book: it covers it subject broadly.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keith Haring died literally one year after I was born. The fact that one of my favorite artists died on my birthday is it's own matter of philosophically upsetting, but I'll find my peace with it somehow. But it's important that I label Haring as one of my favorites because the man's approach to art, line, craft, and aesthetic have all had a dramatic impression upon me as an individual and as an artist. I've tried, in my own art, to find my place and often I find my place exploring the line, a tool Haring essentially structured his entire oeuvre upon.

Alexandra Kolossa's book is a basic introduction to Haring's work, exploring the development of his craft over the course of his life, while providing many actual examples allowing the reader to see and observe the actual art itself. It explores the developments of Haring's work, while also allowing the reader to observe how personal developments allowed Haring's art to push into new territories.

While it's not the most important text about Haring's cultural contribution, it is still a beautiful book for any art lover, or any fan of Haring period. This book gave me a wonderful opening into the life of Haring, a man who's strange dog people entertained me on Sesame Street growing up. It's a wonder to see how that early foundation helped establish a lifelong love for a man died so young, but who left a tremendous impact upon the art community.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keith Haring seemed like such a cool guy. Wanted to use his talent for a purpose, got people involved in his art and gave fun things away. A great introduction to his life and work, and plenty of illustrations to back up any critical discussion.

[laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

”l’art vit de l’imagination des gens qui le regardent”… je suis tellement contente de m’être posée aujourd’hui pour en apprendre plus sur la personne et l’artiste qu’était keith haring. je ne connaissais que les informations de base et ses œuvres principales alors cette petite lecture était TRÈS instructive. j’ai adoré la construction chronologique du livre qui offre une lecture simple et claire. ça m’a permis d’acquérir les connaissances nécessaires pour comprendre et d’autant plus apprécier son art, c’est exactement ce que je recherchais en achetant ce livre!

”keith haring ne cessera jamais de croire à la puissance de l’art, capable selon lui de changer le monde en exerçant une influence positive sur l’être humain”

[dane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in one sitting. A great little introduction to the life and art of Keith Haring. Highly recommend the Taschen biographies - need to get my hands on more!

[David Morillo Barrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Éste libro fue un regalo de cumpleaños de una grandiosa amiga que conoce mi amor por el arte de Keith Haring. Yo pensaba que solamente tendría el libro de Haring escrito por Simón Doonan que ya me había leído este año, y obtener este, fue una sorpresa bastante grata.
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Me parece el mejor libro para empezar a leer sobre Keith Haring. No te agobia, no está sobresaturado Y contiene la información elemental y básica que todo fanático de Keith Haring debe conocer, además de contar con el refuerzo visual de sus obras y su persona.
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Me encantó leer este libro ya que Taschen hace buenos libros sobre tema Pop pero este con las imágenes y el texto ayuda bastante a comprender su arte y admirarlo aún más allá de lo que es al buscarlo por separado mientras uno lo está leyendo.

[Philip Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book!! It was a quick little insight into the mind of a fantastic artist whom I love and respect greatly!!
But the format truly ruined it for me. The text just stops in the middle of a page, then there's multiple pages only filled with his work and when the sentences starts again you have to look back to remember the beginning of it.
Additionally the way the paintings are printed is completely out of order, so you have to flick through multiple pages to find what the author is talking about.

But in the end I would still recommend this book to anyone who is interested in art!

[Ignacio Mayorga Alzate · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author traces a good timeline of themes and works from Haring. However, she misses some key elements of Pop Culture references embedded on Haring's works. How could she ignore the quotation of Velvet Underground's debut album iconography on the Warhol's portrait that Haring made? After all, she realizes the importance of music and rock on Haring's early years. Is good. But is not deep. Is comprehensive, but not exhaustive.

[José González · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief but thorough read about the life and art of Keith Haring. Great for night reading and having those little bites of inspiration and creativity just before falling into the dream realm. The artworks that the book presents are not many, but cover really well all the diverse work that Haring did throughout his life. There are many artworks that you don´t often see outside since they are harder to merchandise so it´s really nice to know them in a light read such as this.

[Elaf Almahmoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the book, I feel like I know Haring as a person more. It talked about his life from A to Z. It also included explanations of his artworks.

[Terry Madeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction, full of marvellous prints and with an interesting, if brief, commentary.

[João · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to the artist. Not too long, but also not too detailed. It covers his life and the evolution of his artwork.

[Léa Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the books in this series, gives a nice description of his life and message as well as beautiful prints of his artworks. Well worth the read

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read, some parts glazed over too lightly but was a nice light overview to read about Haring.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quick read provides a nice overview of the life and art of Keith Haring.

[pau · Rating 5 out of 5]

destrozado

[Ray Quirolgico · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific biography of the brilliant artist that is full of the Zeitgeist of the 1980s and richly illustrated with great photos of just some of Haring’s output, throughout.

[bucky · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful collection and biography of one of the most prominent pop artists in the world. keith haring is my favorite artist (i have a tattoo of his signature) and reading this book was a great experience. i would recommend it to anyone with an interest in art, especially pop/modern/contemporary, as well as hardcore fans.

[Eduardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siempre me gustó la obra de Haring por su color y movimiento, sin embargo, después de leer ésta síntesis de su vida entendí las manifestaciones que hacía en sus dibujos, es muy impactante ver como después de enterarse sobre su condición de portador del VIH, su pintura se vuelve más cruda,más agresiva.

[kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

after finding this book on sale and buying it on a whim, i'm glad i did! it was a good overview of keith haring's work, and a look at his life and how that shaped his paintings. with this introduction, i hope to now read more about haring, especially about his life and work in relation to lgbtq+ causes and spaces.

[Martin Jost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guter Werküberblick in schöner Druckqualität. Mit einem knappen, unaufdringlichen Begleittext, der alles andere als kontrovers wirkt.

[Juliet Mschl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incomplete and imprecise. Flat analysis. Great pictures though.