Keith Haring, from coast to coast

From May 27 to October 8, 2023, The Broad presents the special exhibition “Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody”, the first ever museum exhibition in Los Angeles to present Haring’s expansive body of work.

Source: The Broad · Image: Keith Haring, Untitled, 1982, Baked enamel on steel, 43 x 43 inches, The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Collection, Los Angeles; Keith Haring, Red Room, 1988, acrylic on canvas, 96 x 179 in. (243.8 x 454.7 cm), The Broad Art Foundation © Keith Haring Foundation

Organized by The Broad, the show features over 120 artworks and archival materials. Known for his use of vibrant color, energetic linework and iconic characters like the barking dog and the radiant baby, Haring’s work continues to dissolve barriers between art and life and spread joy, all while being rooted in the creative spirit and mission of his subway drawings and renowned public murals: art is for everybody.

Born in 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Haring moved to New York City in 1978 to study art. He quickly became a staple within the downtown New York arts community with the likes of artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf and Andy Warhol. Haring’s output in the coming decade can be understood in the spirit of the countercultural and nightlife scenes of the 1980s, often organizing exhibitions at the Club 57 nightclub and other alternative venues. This sensibility is palpable in his subway drawings–of which he created over 5,000 throughout his career–where his visionary use of line could be experimented with in quick movements, available to the wide public who took the New York subway. Eli and Edythe Broad, who first began to collect contemporary art deeply in the 1980s, were drawn to the social and political nature of Haring’s work early on, first entering the collection in 1982. Forty years later his legacy continues to garner international acclaim and recognition.

“Keith Haring’s global influence and enduring impact are profound, and The Broad is thrilled to bring our audience in Los Angeles this sweeping exhibition of his work,” said Joanne Heyler, Founding Director of The Broad. “It is our distinct pleasure to share a deep and varied representation of his emblematic visual language and to highlight the prolific ways he spoke through his art and activism about social issues while celebrating joy, solidarity, community and hope.” “Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody” explores both his artistic practice and life, with much of the source material for the exhibition coming from his personal journals. Works presented span from the late-1970s when he was a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York up until 1988, just two years before the artist died from AIDS-related illness at the age of 31. Haring’s participation in nuclear disarmament and anti-Apartheid movements are featured prominently in the show, as well as works that take on complex issues that remain crucial today from environmentalism, capitalism, and the proliferation of new technologies to religion, sexuality, and race. In the last gallery, significant works from the late 1980s will be accompanied by framed posters illustrating the artist’s activism within the HIV/AIDS crisis.