Keith Haring: A Radiant Legacy, MOPOP, Seattle, WA

Keith Haring, 1986

“The public has a right to art…Art is for everybody.” Keith Haring

Recently, I had the chance to see the Keith Haring exhibit at MOPOP in Seattle. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a decent overview with over 240 artworks and objects of his work and life. This show was featured in the smaller, upstairs gallery and the space was arranged well to display his work. The exhibit also included a couple of the subway chalk drawings, many “icon” prints (which are my favorites), such as the radiant baby, barking dog, and the three-eyed monster for example. Graphically, they are strong, simple, bold, colorful icons that have become a part our culture, social activism, and iconography. There were also many artifacts from his commercial work, such as advertisements, spray painted/graffiti pieces, photos, clothing, and other merchandise produced over the years. A series of about 20 prints or so, caught my eye and was called ‘The story of red + blue,’ which had all the makings to become a children’s book, but as far as I know, it was never published. This featured a cast of unusual characters, including animals, but was a very playful approach to a children’s book illustration. Overall, I’d recommend this show if you’re a fan of Haring’s art, graffiti, social activism, and art in public places. It was a good introduction to his work and gave you an overarching sense of his artistic and graphic abilities to create, clear compelling icons. The show was also a tribute to his tremendous talent and work ethic as an artist!

Note: images shown may or may not have been in the exhibit.

#KeithHaring #Haring #RadiantBaby #BarkingDog #ThreeEyedMonster #MOPOP #MuseumOfPopularCulture #Seattle

Copyright 2024 Tim Bovey.

Chris Rycroft from Madison, WI, U.S., CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Keith Haring

Photo credit: Tim Bovey