Keith Haring

Keith Haring was a part of the pop art and contemporary art movements. During the 1980’s, Haring started getting into the underground art industry and getting involved with artists like Scharf and Basquiat. As more and more graffiti started to show up around New York, so did Haring’s work. He became known for his subway drawings in the walls of the New York metro. In 1986, he started to capitalize off of these works and opened a shop where he sold items like shirts and magnets with his art on them. While some people weren’t on board with the idea, his mentor, Andy Warhol, was. Both he and Andy were a part of the pop art movement which aimed to show the world that there was no “right way” to do art and that anyone could be an artist no matter their background. Pop art can be easily identified by its bold colors and lines. 

“We the Youth” is a mural done by Keith Haring on the side of a building in a low income neighborhood in Philadelphia. The work was created in 1987 and was meant to piggyback off of the 200th anniversary of the US constitution. The work was meant to inspire growth and encourage development in the neighborhood, just as Gouverneur Morris inspired the first Americans after writing “We the people” in the constitution. 

I see it as an interpretation of modern day society. All the different colors, sizes, shapes, and patterns represent different personalities and people of different backgrounds all getting along and carefree and working together to create a beautiful work of art. 

https://en.canson.com/expert-advice/introduction-contemporary-art-style-keith-haring

https://www.myartbroker.com/artist-keith-haring/10-facts/10-facts-keith-haring-pop-shop#:~:text=Haring’s%20Pop%20Shop%20sold%20merchandise%20for%2050%20cents.&text=The%20store%20stocked%20t%2Dshirts,featuring%20his%20now%20ubiquitous%20designs.

https://www.invaluable.com/blog/what-is-pop-art/#:~:text=Pop%20art%20is%20a%20movement,of%20culture%20to%20disrupt%20this. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/we-the-youth#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20the%20Youth%E2%80%9D%20was%20created,encourage%20development%20in%20the%20neighborhood.