“The thing I responded to most was the belief that art could reach all kinds of people, as opposed to the traditional view, which has art as this elitist thing.”
— Keith Haring
Representative of the late artist’s signature style, Keith Haring’s Untitled from 1981 presents us with a graphic image rendered in gold atop a black background. Working to blur the boundaries between street and fine art, Haring developed his own distinct iconography to explore difficult themes such as sexuality, the AIDS epidemic, and drug abuse. With its black support, the present work recalls Haring’s infamous New York City Subway drawings. In those works, Haring aimed to make art accessible to everyone and reach a diverse audience. The present work's use shiny gold felt-tip on plastic is indicative of that goal – an allusion to the white chalk used underground in the subway. The present work represents this first foray into using found objects as supports for his works, a practice which would continue throughout his career, and again alludes to his subway beginnings.
Using his signature style of energetic lines and rounded, cartoonish forms, Untitled captures the energy of the downtown New York art scene in which Haring was embedded. Created just before his groundbreaking exhibition at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982, in which the artist recreated a club-like environment complete with a DJ and ultraviolet light, the present work bridges the gap between the high and low art and presenting it in a way that is approachable for all.
