Keith Haring: Apocalypse at Pace Prints

Apocalypse

We are excited to announce Apocalypse, an exhibition of limited edition prints highlighting the collaborations between Keith Haring, William Burroughs and Brion Gysin at Pace Prints 521 West 26th Street Gallery.  The exhibition also features archival material from the Haring Foundation archives that documents the background and relationships from which these works were created.

William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Keith Haring, Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1985 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc., New York
William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Keith Haring, Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1985 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc., New York

Pace Prints Apocalypse

An opening reception will be held on Thursday, November 1, from 6-8pm.  The exhibition is on view through December 21, 2018.

Tiona Nekkia McClodden selected as the 2018 – 2019 Keith Haring Fellow in Art and Activism.

Tiona Nekkia McClodden
Photo by: Texas Isaiah, 2018

Congratulations to Tiona Nekkia McClodden, recipient of the 2018 – 2019 Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism at Bard College.

McClodden is an interdisciplinary artist whose work takes a critical look at intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and social commentary.  During her appointment at Bard College McClodden will continue her research of influential black artists working at the height of the AIDS epidemic whose work remains understudied.  The research will lead to a publication on their work.

The Fellowship is made possible through a five year-grant from the Keith Haring Foundation, the Haring Fellowship is an annual award for a scholar, activist, or artist to teach and conduct research at CCS Bard and the Human Rights Project.  McClodden succeeds Galit Eilat who held the Fellowship for 2017-18.  Prior recipients include architects Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal, artist and curator Shuddhabrata Sengupta, and artist Jeanne van Heeswijk.

For more information about Tiona Nekkia McClodden, the Center for Curatorial Studies, and the Human Rights Project at Bard College, please see the full CCS Bard announcement here.

Happy Birthday Keith!

AIDS Free GenerationKeith Haring would have been 60 years old today had he not succumbed to AIDS related complications in 1990.  He established the Keith Haring Foundation in 1989 so that he could continue to help the fight against AIDS even after his death.  The Keith Haring Foundation is proud to be partnering with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in their effort to see an AIDS-free generation by 2020.

To learn more about the Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation and to help support their work visit  http://www.pedaids.org

All the World

Kieth Haring in Pisa, 1989. Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1989 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc.
Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1989 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc.

Keith Haring worked obsessively until his death on February 16, 1990.   This mural, painted in 1989 on the wall of the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate in Pisa, is affectionally known as “Tuttomondo” – or “All the World” –  and was the last public work he created.  The mural still exists today.

Galit Eilat named 2017 – 2018 Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism at Bard College

Galit Eilat
Courtesy Galit Eilat

Congratulations to Galit Eilat, recipient of the 2017 – 2018 Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism at Bard College.

Eilat, an independent curator, writer, and founding director of the Israeli Center for Digital Art in Holon (2001 – 2010), has been selected as the fourth recipient of the Keith Haring Fellowship in Art and Activism. Made possible through a five year-grant from the Keith Haring Foundation, the Haring Fellowship is an annual award for a scholar, activist, or artist to teach and conduct research at CCS Bard and the Human Rights Project.  Eilat succeeds Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, of Decolonizing Architecture in Beit Sahour, Palestine, who held the Fellowship for 2016-17.  Prior recipients include Dutch artist Jeanne van Heeswijk, and Delhi-based artist Shuddhabrata Sengupta.

For more information about  Galit Eilat, the Center for Curatorial Studies, and the Human Rights Project at Bard College, please see the full CCS Bard announcement here.

We ♥ John Giorno

Ugo Rondinone: I ♥ John Giorno is a citywide exhibition presenting the work and life of poet, artist, and activist, John Giorno, which opened this week in venues across Manhattan.  Giorno, an iconic figure of New York’s downtown art scene, is perhaps most widely-known for his Dial-a-Poem phone line where anyone could call in and listen to poets, musicians, and activists performing their works.  The Dial-a-Poem line has been reprised for this exhibition and can be reached by calling (641) 793-8122.

While still a student, Keith Haring was heavily influenced by the work of John Giorno and other innovative poets and writers, like William Burroughs and Brion Gysin.  Keith wrote about this inspiration his journals, most notably in a piece he titled “A Chunk Called Poetry,” which can be read on our Tumblr on journal pages 62-67.  Later, Keith would collaborate with many of these artists.  Below is an album cover Keith created for a 1985 record compilation issued by Giorno Poetry Systems titled,  A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse, which included such artists as Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü, Diamanda Galás, and Coil.

Ugo Rondinone: I ♥ John Giorno is open now and runs through August 6, 2017.  For more information and a list of participating venues visit http://www.ilovejohngiorno.nyc

 

A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse
A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse
Keith Haring, Willliam Burroughs, and John Giorno in Kansas, 1987
Keith Haring, Willliam Burroughs, and John Giorno in Kansas. Photo by Tseng Kwong Chi, 1987 © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc., New York

February 16, 1990

Keith Haring was an activist as well as an artist, creating posters, murals, logos, pins, etc., for causes as wide-ranging as anti-littering and literacy outreach, to AIDS awareness and anti-Apartheid.

Buttons by Haring
A selection of social and political buttons by Keith Haring
AIDS mural Barcelona
AIDS Mural in Barcelona, 1989

His fine artwork also directly addressed social concerns; sometimes using humor, as in the collages he created from New York Post headlines that he Xeroxed and posted around the city; and sometimes illustrating the brutality of the system, such as in Michael Stewart – USA for Africa, a response to the killing of the young graffiti artist Michael Stewart.

Keith Haring NY Post Headlines collage
NY Post collage wheat-pasted onto a wall in New York, 1980
Michael Stewart - USA for Africa
Michael Stewart – USA for Africa, 1985

Keith occaisionally struggled with feelings of hopelessness in the face bigotry and corruption, but still he fought on however he was able.  Before his death on this date in 1990, he established the Keith Haring Foundation so that it could continue the work he began.

“We go forward, we have the means, but we’re still in the same situation.  And we still fightin’.

By any means necessary.

By any means necessary.

By any means necessary.”

-from Keith Haring’s  journals, July 1988

The Body Positive magazine cover
Cover of The Body Positive, photo by Kevin B. Smith

Refuse & Resist!

Resist in Concert!
Resist in Concert!

This poster from our archive is for a concert organized by Refuse & Resist! a human rights organization founded in 1987.  Keith Haring created the group’s logo seen on the poster.  Learn more about the history of Refuse & Resist! here.