The
Language
of an Artist
Keith
Haring liked to use repetition both in line in and form to develop his own personal iconography.
As
a young man,
Haring
was fascinated by cartoons and drew these cartoons with story lines.
His
was in the interested in the characters, shapes, and lines of these images.
He
focused on how the lines could represent the movement and give the abstracted image a more natural quality. This development is what helped him eventually develop his own library of iconography.
The
personal iconography would lead Haring to build an artistic language by which he could communicate messages of political, social, or even sexual nature to his viewers. Using iconography, he sends messages about life, death, rebirth, social justice, sexuality, consequences, guilt, and dread. In his work,
Haring
often used familiar figures repeatedly to depict various acts in different ways. One example of such a figure is the body.
Haring
draws the shape and form of the body as well as the motion and actions that the body can produce. He demonstrates the movement of the body and in some cases just focuses on certain parts. In some of his works, he obsessively draws the male penis.
He
uses lines to represent motion or action that is happening within the painting.
There
are also other common pictures in his work, such as dogs, pigs, dolphins, and spaceships.
Haring
sometimes uses color to send a political message about the work that depicts the oppression of black man or the concept of death associated with religion. Haring was also outspoken on gay issues and gay
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.
Haring learned early in his career about the use of spatial relationships in his drawings.
The
positive and negative aspects of shapes and how the eye and mind processes the use of space surrounding each shape. In some cases, the eye is drawn toward the individual shape, while in others it is drawn toward the group of shapes. Size is another factor that
Haring
played with. Large objects next to smaller objects give the feeling of multiple planes, yet without the use of shadows or overlapping. Haring uses these concepts in a very modern way to create depth into what would otherwise be considered very flat work.
Haring
crafted his paintings where he groups several objects together and often fills the space with other lines or shapes, leading the eye to identify the shapes based on the relationships between positive and negative space instead of simply drawing the object in plain sight. This is particularly noticeable in
Untitled
(Acrobats),
1982
(Figure
1).
Here is a representation of human and animal figures represented in a variety of poses.
Within
the spaces between each poses,
Haring
has drawn another figure, object, or representation of line.
This
work is very flat with an absence of any true overlapping.
Yet,
Haring has done something to give the impression that there are multiple planes at work within the paining. He uses smaller objects within to represent perspective between figures close and figures that could be farther away, thereby giving the painting a multi-­‐dimensional representation.
He
also uses expression lines to show movement or activity, as with a baby crawling, and even the sound of a barking dog. This gives a more realistic quality to the abstraction because there can be associations between the object and the action of the object.
Because
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much of Haring’s figures and objects are repeated, he provides for both visual unity and conceptual unity within this body of work. Here he has used visual unity by grouping the objects within the same plane. Another element that seems common between some of Haring’s work is the idea of conceptual unity. The familiar iconography that Haring uses are used to demonstrate a common theme between the two paintings.
Spaceship
with
Ray,
1980
(Figure
2) in concept with Gloryhole,
September
1980
(Figure
3) have an anti-­‐establishment and phallic representation in their meaning. In
Spaceship,
the erect building is similar to that of the erect penis in Gloryhole.
In
both paintings, there is also an element of power and desire.
Harring’s
few use of color in this exhibit is also displayed. Haring uses these colors in a similar way in each painting.
The
red energy that emanates from the Spaceship
Ray
as well as the erect penis, the yellow wall that hides the person in Gloryhole is the same yellow that hides the members of the
Spaceship.
Although it is unclear what the precise message of each picture is meant to be, it is fair to say that in both cases the erect building and penis are coveted by the other elements in each picture. Like most of
Haring’s
work there is more than what is initially presented, and Haring introduces taboo topics such as the appearance of gay subculture.
In
his works Untitled
1982,
Haring uses his familiar iconography of figures, penises, lines, and shapes to bring a humorous perspective to what could be considered male love.
This
love is represented by the large and obvious heart set in the center of the picture and contrasted nicely with the erect and semi-­‐erect penises of the only male figures. Indicating that love for men is part of the physical and sexual relationships.
On
one side, two male figures stand next to one another. A slight use of overlapping shows one figure with his arm
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The
figure on the right has his other hand up as if to wave to the third and separate figure, which waves back with his erect penis. Perhaps this is a welcome to join him and his partner in their love for each other.
The
use of more curved lines on the faces of these two figures represents a feeling of happiness or pleasure rather than sadness, hurt, or anger.
This
could further indicate a mutual form of love between all three parties, something that is not uncommon within the gay community.
In
gay culture, the idea of sex is prevalent interacting in almost every facet of life.
Haring
captures this in his painting
Untitled,
June
1982
(Figure
5).
Even angels from heavens return to earth to partake in the oversexed culture and fornicate with animals.
These
angels are made of the same familiar figure shape of Haring’s other works but could be a more sinister in nature.
The
red crossbuck markings across their face may indicate the presence of evil that has come down to earth to fornicate with animals, or in this painting dogs.
Perhaps
a play on gay culture that man is willing to have sex with anything, including his best friend. In the painting
Haring
shows both the motion of the abstract act of fornicating itself with lines representing movement and lines indicating the sound or cries from the dogs.
Haring
who was immersed in both the art world and gay culture would have no doubt been affected by the
AIDS
epidemic in the
80’s,
however before the height of this epidemic occurred Haring painted Untitled,
June
1982
(Figure
5).
This
picture at first glance represented an eerie similarity to the fate of Haring’s yet to be known demise. This act of fornication with animals is an act of bestiality, is not only anti-­‐establishment but something else that
Haring
has noted in other works such as a Flyer for Club
57
First
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Annual
Group
Erotic
and
Pornographic
Art
Exhibition
at
Club
57,
New
York
City,
February
1981.
It seems the concept of such depraved behavior is fascinating to
Haring,
yet caries some harsh consequences, although it will not be for many years later that the consequences of such actions will be known in life, however; Haring advances that idea with his next work. Continuing on a theme of love, sex, and conceptual unity, Haring paints Untitled
1982
(Figure
6).
This painting is almost a picture within a picture.
A
box around the majority of the work depicts the figures of humans and dogs with their own crossbuck symbol across their faces. Indicating that judgment or death has occurred on these marked individuals.
Haring
has also placed a single figure in the whitespace outside of a box.
This
last figure without the crossbuck, covers his eyes and with the presents of motion lines appears to be running away from the horror is contained within represented picture. It is impossible to know if Haring had any insight into the fate of the gay community or if he was simply making light of the oversexed nature of men. Whatever the case, the use of love, sex, and consequences in these three pieces could be used to send a stark message. That the pure physical pleasure and enjoyment that transcends ones own reality such as, love or sex can end in death.
In
addition to sex, love, and death there were other social themes in Haring’s bodies of work. Another conceptual theme uses the additional element of oppression to send messages. Six untitled drawings,
1980
(Figure
7)
use pictures to tell what any westerner might identify as a possible story of white man’s oppression, murder, and depravity against a black man. In these six paintings a white man with a weapon murders an unarmed black man and rapes his lifeless body. The use of lines radiating from the body indicate both life
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Although
the subject matter is troubling, his use of the six pictures to tell a story is a familiar concept that stems back to
Haring’s
childhood of cartoons and storylines.
All
of the same uses of familiar lines, shapes, figures, and perspectives of Haring’s works are demonstrated throughout these six paintings. Perhaps one of the most intriguing things in this exhibition is that many of the works are labeled as
“Untitled.”
It would seem an artist as well thought through as Haring would not think to present his work without a name.
However,
like all of
Haring’s
work there may be a plan to the absence of titles.
The
intention is to let the art send the message,
Haring
does not want to cloud the message by interpreting it for the viewer.
Haring’s
work is intellectually charged and emotionally rich and thus it speaks for itself.
His
use of themes and his personal iconography demonstrates a dichotomy between the simplicity of his technique and the depth of the message. Cistone
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