POLITICAL HARING

The Keith Haring Political Line show has long passed, but realized I never got a chance to post about the groundbreaking work I saw over Christmas in the San Francisco DeYoung.

I was somewhat familiar with Keith Haring’s art and knew he was famous for transforming Graffiti art into Gallery Art. But, this show blew me away. This exhibition showcased some of his more provocative pieces which reacted to New York life in the 80’s. I loved his use of raw iconic imagery and bold color.

It’s always more interesting to experience a painter’s body of work as a collection, rather than as individual pieces out of context. Each of the rooms was themed around a specific grouping, from subway art to art in the Aids crisis. The scale of the pieces was as imposing as the subject matter. It was an incredibly powerful show, one that gave interesting stories behind the art I have only seen as patterns.