Keith Haring is one of the leading American artists of the 1980s and a pioneer of graffiti art. He was born in Pennsylvania, USA in 1958. He moved to New York in 1978 and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. In 1980, he began making what he called "Subway Drawings," graffiti art drawn with white chalk on unused billboards covered in black paper in subway stations. His rhythmic and comical graffiti became popular among commuters, and his name quickly spread. In 1981, he held his first solo exhibition at Westbeth Gallery. The following year, he made his debut at Tony Shafrazi, a major gallery in Soho, and made further progress, participating in Documenta in the same year. He then exhibited at the Whitney Biennale in 1983 and the 41st Venice Biennale in 1984, and created murals in various parts of the world, including Australia and Brazil.
He first visited Japan in 1983, where he created drawings using ink on folding screens, hanging scrolls and other furniture and tools unique to Japan. In 1987, he created a mural with about 500 children at the Parthenon Tama in Tama City, Tokyo, and was also actively involved in workshops and social projects. Haring's motto was "art belongs to everyone," and he promoted the commercialization of his own works, opening a "Pop Shop" in New York in 1986 to sell original goods. In 1988, he also opened Pop Shop Tokyo in Japan. Many of his pop-style paintings, prints, and posters, which are composed of simple lines and vivid colors, contain messages such as nuclear abandonment, AIDS prevention, and LGBT recognition.
Tokyo workshops, fashion workshops, art experiences, painting classes, children's classes, Ikoyo, Retrip, Jalan, Rurubu, Rakuten Travel, Yahoo, Google Maps, Art Wine, Art Bar, Shimokitazawa, Harajuku, Aoyama, Shibuya, Art and Cafe offers a wide range of workshops, services and campaigns for groups, couples, dates, students, children, etc. You can also enjoy music and cafes at the workshops.
In 1988, he was diagnosed with AIDS, and the following year, he established the Keith Haring Foundation to raise funds for underprivileged children and to continue his HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness campaigns. He continued to promote HIV/AIDS prevention through his art activities until his death at the age of 31 in 1990. In 2007, the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection, which inherits Haring's art and ideas and is comprised of approximately 300 of his works from his lifetime, opened in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture.
