Keith Haring

Artwork is displayed on brick walls in an industrial space. In the centre are are two glass-topped tables.

Two large artworks are displayed on a brick wall next to two large windows.

A white and blue square artwork is displayed on a white wall, in an industrial space.

A long illustrated artwork is displayed on a brick wall.

A chalk drawing of a figure with their arms raised, displayed on a brick wall.

A large black board with white illustrations is displayed on a brick wall. The illustrations are of two human figures connected at the head.

A black and white photograph of figures in the New York subway

A historical exhibition of works by celebrated artist Keith Haring, highlighting his interests in language and connections to East Coast counterculture.

Keith Haring (1958-1990) was a radical American artist who died at the age of 31 of AIDS-related complications. This exhibition works against ahistorical framings of his practice that have consistently sought to reduce him to an outsider or graffiti artist, instead exploring his engagement with semiotics and language, and his unique ability to communicate ideas which weren’t represented in mainstream media.

Haring’s work is presented in the raw architecture of The Modern Institute’s Bricks Space, in such a way as to recapture the spirit and energy of his practice. The exhibition comprises studio pieces and works originally produced in situ in New York, including his subway drawings and a section of his Untitled (FDR NY) mural from 1984. Untitled (FDR NY) was a 100-metre-long panel work which sat parallel to a section of New York City’s Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, on Manhattan’s East Side.