Keith Haring: a biography

Art continued to be a central interest throughout Keith's experimental and rather rebellious adolescence. He was often in trouble with his teachers due to the fact that all he ever thought about was art. Through books and museum visits he began to develop an awareness of modern art. Keith saw his first Warhols on a church visit to the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C. This is where the passion began to take form. Keith began to get more involved with art and decided on making a future out of it. After high school, Keith enrolled in the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh.

In 1976, Keith hitchhiked cross-country, stopping along the way to look at other art programs, gaining influence and ideas along the way. His style of art can be seen as a mix of many different artistic styles. Keith gained a majority of

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Keith was excited enough about finding his artistic role models and about showing his work in Pittsburgh to start to consider his next steps as an artist. Keith’s first show there, held in October 1982, was a fantastic success. But it is the children of every nationality and all walks of life that will remember Keith as their very special friend. Despite his short life, he made a big impression on all the people he met and that viewed his artwork.

Known as a workaholic, Haring created thousands of images, donating murals to children's hospitals and promoting AIDS awareness. All had very distinct styles of painting and later contributed to Keith’s one of a kind form of art. Everywhere, people responded to a style that combined the simple with the complex that blended color and pattern to form dynamic images of great variety and originality.

Elements that would become central to Keith's style were beginning to emerge; he began working with a vocabulary of small, interconnected abstract shapes. At the same time, he began to discover some of his most important influences among modern artists. his influence from graffiti artists like the Fabulous 5ive, the only group of artists to paint all ten cars of a train. Keith believed the signatures on the train beard the likeness of Chinese calligraphy which was similar to the drawings he was beginning to do. The use of abstract shapes can be seen in any of his many works, and gives his artwork a very distinct style. Keith touched many lives and was always helping to make a difference in the world. When he returned to Pittsburgh later that year, he sat in on classes at the University of Pittsburgh, and eventually became involved with the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center, where he had his first important show.

Common topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 791
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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