Keith Haring Naked Artworks
Keith Haring is a pop culture icon. Renowned photographer, Annie Leibovitz, photographed him for an exhibition poster called “Keith Haring Painted Nude.” Additionally, Don Herron also captured an iconic photo of Haring on a tub with his artwork displayed on the back. Haring himself produced powerful drawings on people’s bodies for collaborative shoots. But Keith Haring’s naked artworks are also equally famous. Much of his paintings and installations included sexual references. That turned into social activism using images to advocate for safe sex and AIDS awareness. Most early Keith Haring Naked artworks were untitled works painted on tarp or vinyl. Moreover, there were plenty of collaborations between him and other artists then. His works include the following:
- Safe Sex
- Ignorance = Fear
- Crack is Wack
- Free South Africa
- Fight Aids
- Portrait of Macho Camacho
- Mr. Chow as Green Prawn in a Bowl of Noodle
- New Year’s Invitation ’88
Nude Artist’s Education
Keith Haring was an artist who became famous in the 1980s. He created graffiti art on things like subway walls and sidewalks. But then he shifted to doing more masterpieces in the studio until his passing in February 1990. Keith Haring was born on May the 4th, 1958, and grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He loved to draw when he was still a little boy. Haring learned how to draw by watching his dad draw comics. After attending high school in 1976, he went to the Ivy School of Professional Art. Keith Haring studied Commercial Arts before dropping out. He then moved to Pittsburgh, where he studied by himself for a little bit. He consequently worked at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts to sustain himself. At school, he took semiotics with the conceptual artist Bill Beckley and explored Performance, collage, Installation, and Video art. He soon encountered an alternative art scene on the streets and subways. That’s when he connected with other artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat. Haring initially found interest in doing his white chalk drawings in the subway stations on the empty backgrounds of advertising spaces. Keith Haring’s nudes then evolved as a form of political message.
Keith Haring Nude Influences
Before dropping out of the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, Haring read The Art Spirit. The book by Robert Henri focused on creativity that’s pushed toward an interactive approach. After this, Haring realized he did not want to pursue commercial art design. Meanwhile, during his stay in Pittsburgh, he marveled at the works of Jean Dubuffet, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Tobey. One of his many inspirations during this time came from a 1977 Pierre Alechinsky retrospective. The artist’s viewpoint challenged him to create large-scale artwork combining text and figures. He subsequently pooled inspiration from the lecture given by Christo himself as well, who has encouraged artists to public inclusion. Consequently, he developed his distinct style after this. Keith Haring Nude style became about life, love, sex, and death. His works became conversation starters for New York’s subway riders. And his technique is still used today. His works helped change the pop art scene during his lifetime.
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