DESCRIPTION
KEITH HARING (Pennsylvania, 1958- New York, 1990).
"Self portrait", 1987.
Ink on paper.
Features Tony Shafrazi Gallery label with Stock #1435 exempt to framing.
Framed with museum glass.
Signed and dated on the right side.
Measurements: 26 x 32.5 cm; 43 x 49 cm (frame).
Keith Haring portrayed himself on numerous occasions always with his iconic glasses as a seal of identity. In these self-portraits the artist offered a vision of himself, not only physical but also personal, thus revealing his opinion of himself to the viewer, as can be seen in the self-portrait as a sphinx. In this particular case it is not a single self-portrait but two, as he shows us his own bust being painted by one of his iconic monigots that are an alter ego of the artist himself.
Considered as the visible head of urban art in the eighties, Haring's unstoppable professional career, which led him to become Warhol's colleague and media superstar, began with his work in the New York subway. The enormous popularity of Haring's urban work among the people of New York immediately caught the attention of the art establishment. Consequently, Andy Warhol adopted him into his circle, and the then emerging gallerist Tony Shafrazi organized a resounding solo exhibition for him in 1982 that was to be the launching pad for his unstoppable success. He soon exhibited his work at the gallery of the influential Leo Castelli and established himself as a professional art star.
Keith Haring was an American artist whose pop art and graffiti emerged from the street culture of New York City in the 1980s. Haring's work grew in popularity thanks to his spontaneous drawings on the New York City subway in chalk on black and white advertising space backgrounds. After achieving public recognition, he created large-scale works as murals.His later work often addressed political and social issues, especially homosexuality and AIDS, through his own iconography. Today Haring's work is divided between major private and public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Bass Museum in Miami; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; the Ludwig Museum in Cologne; and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. He also created a wide variety of public works, including the infirmary at Children's Village in Dobbs Ferry, New Yorkand the second-floor men's room at Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in Manhattan, which was later transformed into an office and is known as the Keith Haring Room. In January 2019, an exhibit called "Keith Haring New York" opened at New York Law School in the main building of its Tribeca campus.