AllMovie

Reading, PA, native Keith Haring checked in as one of the most vital and yet unusual artists of the 1980s. Though undoubtedly a member of the Manhattan avant-garde and a pop artist by default (who associated with Andy Warhol and others of Warhol's ilk), he was also inseparable from New York street culture; significantly, Haring's work is often read as a series of aesthetic reactions to that subculture. As something of a trademark, Haring created a series of outlined drawings and sculptures featuring elegantly simple human faces and figures that lacked defining features on their countenances or bodies. Prior to his untimely death from AIDS at the age of 32 in 1990, Haring also attained significance for the individuals with whom he associated, including not merely Warhol, but Yoko Ono, the rock group Duran Duran, rapper Fab Five Freddy, singer Grace Jones, and others, associations that led him into assignments designing artwork for albums, apparel, advertisements for nonprofit groups, and other venues. His life is chronicled in the 2007 documentary The Universe of Keith Haring.