By Susan Lin & Wasin Shihab
Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist and social activist known for his unique and vibrant graffiti-inspired artwork that emerged in the 1980s. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. Haring’s passion for art began at an early age, and he moved to New York City in 1978 to attend the School of Visual Arts. Haring rose to fame during the 1980s art scene in New York, gaining recognition for his distinctive style characterized by bold lines, bright colors, and simplified forms. His artwork often featured playful and energetic figures, such as dancing people, barking dogs, and radiant babies. Haring’s work became a visual language that rose above social barriers and conveyed messages of love, unity, and activism. One of Haring’s most recognizable symbols is the “Radiant Baby,” which he used as a recurring motif in his art. He was also known for his use of public spaces, particularly the subway stations, where he created chalk drawings on empty advertising panels. In addition to his artistic endeavors, Keith Haring was a passionate advocate for social issues, including AIDS awareness and anti-apartheid activism. Tragically, he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 and succumbed to the disease in 1990 at the age of 31. Despite his relatively short career, Haring’s impact on the art world and popular culture has endured, and his legacy continues to influence contemporary artists. The Keith Haring Foundation, established by the artist before his death, supports organizations addressing issues related to AIDS, children’s programs, and the arts.
Keith has inspired a variety of new ways to showcase art. He played a pivotal role in the evolution of the street art movement. By using public spaces such as subway stations and creating chalk drawings, he challenged the conventional boundaries of where art could be displayed. Today, street art is a globally recognized and respected form of artistic expression, owing much to Haring’s pioneering contributions. Today we see artworks in public spaces so often that we don’t seem to question how that might have been possible. Originally it would be assumed that art should only be displayed at museums or art galleries but Keith freed himself from that cycle and presented art wherever he could. Kieth played a very important role in shaping New York City’s culture. By encouraging street art, many artists had the opportunity to showcase their talents without having to put in an expensive gallery. Now, street art is a part of New York City and how we are connected with each other with these art pieces. This is a fundamental reason why we liked Keith so much. Another aspect that we appreciated about Keith’s art is that although it seems so simple and looks like a “anyone-can-do-it” art piece, his artworks employ deep meanings within them. Through the use of lines, color contrast, and just its simplicity Keith invokes the reader’s attention to ask what the art means. That’s what we did and how we came to like his art pieces. Furthermore, Keith’s art is actually very aesthetically pleasing to us as it is not only minimalistic fashion in a sense but also grabs attention quickly. A popular clothing brand named Uniqlo USA also has T-Shirts with Keith Haring’s art on them.
While recognizing Keith’s artwork’s beauty we also noticed that our Macaulay T-Shirt logo has not been up to style. So, since we have an art that is stylish and a T-shirt that is out of style we thought it would be good to have a stylish T-shirt meaning we incorporate Keith Haring’s artwork into the Macaulay logo to make the T-Shirt more appealing. That was our initial goal. However, we changed that plan due to limited resources and time and changed our direction towards creating a Keith Haring inspired sticker. This idea was shared with us by our Professor, Susan Ziegler. Our professor shared with us a Keith Haring inspired sticker that her child received and it seemed like a cool idea to us to be able to share Keith’s art as stickers but also making it a little of our own by weaving in the Macaulay logo. This was our inspiration to create this art project “Keith Haring in Macaulay.” Looking at the design, you can see Macaulay’s mascot, a mountain lion, on the letter M and CCNY mascot, a beaver, on the letter C. The letter H was empty so we wanted to highlight a core value of Macaulay, giving their students high quality education without the worry about tuition costs represented through the graduation cap.
