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Last Friday would have been Keith Haring’s 54th birthday.
To you born after the 80s that doesn’t mean jack. but he was big and really in fashion back then. Before he became a household name he created a lot of street art, definitely a precursor to Banksy or Shep Fairey. (Actually the museum I recently saw Haring’s work at also featured Banksy and Fairey).

While haring helped define the look of the 80s he also raised awareness about AIDs (it was new back then kids and Ronald Reagan wasn’t doing JACK-SHIT to help those dying.) After his own death of the disease Madonna donated all the proceeds from her NYC show to AIDs research.

Politics aside Haring was down right talented, meticulous and thoughtful. I recently saw an exhibit of his early work and sketchbooks that really illuminated how he developed his process. He really honed the technique of automatic drawing to a razor sharp edge.

Look into his history, you might be glad you did.