Keith Haring: Communicating Through Cartoons

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As children we find entertainment in cartoons. Such simple shapes and figures provide hours of amusement watching them do trivial tasks like drive cars and go to work. What if they represented more than just a Sunday morning or brief entertainment? What was Disney really trying to say? For artists like Keith Haring, cartoons become his way of communicating with people about what he thought was important and needed to be heard. Haring used cartoon figures in a powerful way within his work.

Keith Haring was born May 4, 1958 in Reading Pennsylvania.1 He grew up in the small town of Kutztown, Pennsylvania with his mother, father and three younger sisters. At a young age his father taught him how to draw; he encouraged Haring to create his own characters and not to just replicate others.4 Through his love for drawing and cartoons Haring was inspired by cartoons from Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney.3 Keith and his friends would spend a great deal of their time getting together to draw with each other; this continued on throughout his life.4

When Haring graduated from high school in 1976 he decided to study at the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh. He soon realized that he was not interested in creating commercial art and dropped out.2 he spent the next few years studying on his own in Pittsburgh and had his first major showing of his work in 1978. After his exhibition he enrolled in the School of Visual Arts in New York City. While in school he become friends with many young artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf.3 Haring and his friends started to go to clubs that put up shows and eventually was organizing exhibitions and performances in these clubs.4

Haring thought that art should be available to not just a s...

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... the point that his managers told him to stop before it is not valued.4 The reason that I create art other than for myself is to share it; even if it is just a sketch on a napkin to give that to someone is a important step in the process of art.

Works Cited

1. "Biography of Keith Haring." The Keith Haring Foundation. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Oct 2011. .

2. "Keith Haring ." Biography.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 24 Oct 2011. .

3. "Keith Haring Biography." Rogallery Select Artworks Online. ROGALLERY, 2011. Web. 24 Oct 2011. .

4. The Universe of Keith Haring. Dir. Christina Clausen. Arthouse Films, 2008. Web. 24 Oct 2011..

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