Introduction to Keith Haring: the artist, the man

By Ines Min

Staff reporter

Enter the world of Keith Haring: neon fluorescent colors lit in blacklight, dance music, sexual imagery, bold lines and political commentary. But don't forget the large-scale community projects, focusing on equality and humanity, philanthropy, anti-racism and a general, harmonizing sense of love.

On the 20th anniversary of the late New York artist's death, ``Pop: Art Superstar Keith Haring'' opened Thursday at the SOMA Museum of Art, providing the public with a peek into his life. Besides being the first solo show for the artist in Korea, it will also be Asia's largest exhibition by the young man who died of AIDS at just 31.

Named among the most influential pop artists of the century, Haring arrived onto the exploding New York art scene in 1978 to attend the School of Visual Arts. First recognized for his increasingly ubiquitous chalk drawings on empty advertisement spaces in subways in 1980, the then-22-year-old grew among a crowd of innovative artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and made friends with the likes of Andy Warhol.

His name became internationally famous within his short decade-long career, with exhibitions from Tokyo to the Sao Paulo Biennale. His art _ distinctive in its bold, simplified lines, sincerity and messages against apartheid and AIDS discrimination _ became an instantly recognizable style that graced T-shirts, buttons and other knickknacks, which is how many today first stumble upon his art.

``The selection of works that has been brought here is very much geared towards providing a kind of foundation to begin your understanding of Keith Haring the artist, not just Keith Haring the logo-maker,'' Julia Gruen, the executive director of the artist's eponymous foundation, told The Korea Times in an interview Thursday. ``What makes this show special and singular is that it's a very well-thought out, but concentrated overview of Keith's visual language.''

Through several galleries, a screening of the 1989 ``Drawing the Line'' documentary, photographs of the artist at work and a blacklight-lit room that features Haring's own preferred music and glow in the dark prints, visitors are able to see a chronological view of the artist's career in a decidedly immersive experience.

The seamless integration into the space of SOMA is helped by the large scale of the exhibition: 150 prints and other work are on loan from the Keith Haring Foundation, an organization established by the artist himself in 1989, to contribute to AIDS and children's charities.

A philanthropist in many regards, Haring was unwilling to turn away simply because a topic was taboo or painful. The openly gay artist confronted a range of subjects, not to be sensational but true to life.

``The world is a complicated place,'' Gruen said. ``He was not seeking to make everything better; he was just seeking to reflect what his own experience was. Some of that is very uplifting and positive, and some of it is very dark.''

Though the exhibition glides over some of his more explicit material, his messages are not lost. Some of the included works are ``Silence=Death,'' a commentary on the atmosphere to ignore the HIV positive and AIDS community as well as ``The Blueprint Drawings.'' The latter is a series of silkscreens that portrays an androgynous race, sexual acts, violence and joy.

An awareness of contemporary society and consciousness of his audience were some of the ways the artist was able to connect to those around the world. Besides an overwhelmingly optimistic tone in his pieces, Haring also personally attended his international exhibitions and created the well-known Pop Shop in New York. The store is one of the main proprietors of the merchandise that bore him the "logo artist" label.

``Keith's philosophy of art was accessibility,'' Gruen said, explaining that the Pop Shop sold all of its items inexpensively, never pulling in a profit. ``It's not, it wasn't about making money, it was about putting the images out there.''

The only downside, she admits, is that there are some who only know him through those iconic figures. But part of the foundation's mission is to keep up with the dissemination of his art, and share the inspirations of his life: from his activism to his charity.

``All of these different aspects that resided in this one person, it all contributes to your ability to both understand the work but also to find a point of identification,'' Gruen said. ``Not every child, not every grown-up, certainly not every territory or nationality, has the same exact response, but there does seem to be something in Keith's images which speaks to everybody.''

"Pop: Art Superstar Keith Haring" is on display through Sept. 5 at the SOMA Museum of Art in southern Seoul. General admission is 12,000 won, visit www.somamuseum.org.