• Click here for more playlists on the biggest artists in the world
Keith Haring’s distinctive cartoon style is now ingrained in the public consciousness, reproduced endlessly on t-shirts and sneakers, and a reminder of how the New York art scene of the 1980s embraced the languages of culture. popular and street. A new exhibition opening this month at The Broad in Los Angeles will emphasize the artist’s ambition to create works with widespread appeal, which he wrote about in his diaries. The catalog that accompanies the exhibition includes essays and conversations with the artist’s friends and contemporaries, offering “new perspectives on Haring’s work”, says curator Sarah Loyer. She adds that a new biography of Brad Gooch is to be published next year, which will leave “no effort”. In the meantime, Rent has selected four essential books on the life and career of Keith Haring.
Diaries of Keith Haring (2010) by Keith Haring
“The Diaries provide key insight into Haring’s life and work, writing about his thinking over the years, from just before he moved to New York until the end of his life. He writes extensively about his beliefs about art, important influences on his practice and his experiences when he rose to fame and traveled the world for exhibitions and public projects.
Keith Haring’s line: the race and performance of desire (2020) by Ricardo Montez
“Ricardo Montez writes extensively on Haring’s relationship to race in the 1980s and provides a critical contemporary perspective on the subject, highlighting Haring’s collaborations with Bill T. Jones, LA II (Angel Ortiz), Tseng Kwong Chi and Grace Jones, among others.”
Keith Haring: The Boy Who Kept Drawing (2017) by Kay Haring
“Written by Haring’s sister, this is an excellent biography of Haring for young audiences that humanizes the experience of a world-renowned artist by telling his inspiring story from childhood.”
Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography (1992) by John Gruen
“Published shortly after the artist’s death in 1990 at the age of 31 from an AIDS-related illness, this biography tells the story of Haring’s life and career through the artist’s reflections. himself, his family and friends, and many people who knew him, from artist Roy Lichtenstein and psychologist and psychedelics advocate Timothy Leary, to pop star Madonna and battered poet William Burroughs covers significant ground, discussing his childhood, coming out, and many of his most important artistic influences.
• Keith Haring: Art is for everyoneThe Broad, Los Angeles, May 27-October 8
• Keith Haring: Art is for everyoneSarah Loyer et al, Delmonico Books/The Broad, 256pp, $60 (hb), published in June
