Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography - Hardcover

Gruen, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0135161134 ISBN 13: 9780135161135

Publisher: Macmillan General Reference, 1991

Synopsis

A biography of the pop-art phenomenon discusses his work, homosexuality, and his coming to terms with his illness

About this title

Reviews

Melding graffiti, pop art and archetypal symbolism, Keith Haring's semiabstract human torsos, "radiant babies" and dogs gave street art unusual depth and popular appeal. Raised in a Pennsylvania Dutch farm town, Haring became a Jesus freak, a druggie and a hippie by age 15, and, in the Manhattan art world, a rebel consumed by restless energy and a thirst for celebrity. His death from AIDS in 1990 at age 31 left unresolved the debate over whether his art is ephemeral or lasting. Consisting entirely of transcripts of interviews with Haring, his parents, sisters, teachers, colleagues, lovers and art dealers, this pastiche reads like preliminary notes for a biography. Kenny Scharf, Timothy Leary, Madonna, Yoko Ono, Francesco Clemente, Roy Lichtenstein and William Burroughs are among the interviewees. Their appreciations of Haring and his kinetic art are eloquent and touching. Some 100 plates (most in color) are sprinkled throughout. Gruen's books include The New Bohemia.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A largely sympathetic portrait of the recently deceased young artist whose works moved from the subway platforms of N.Y.C. to the walls of galleries and museums throughout the world. Using the form of interviews with Haring himself as well as with the hustlers and hangers-on, the con men and collectors, the celebrities and sycophants who formed his world, Gruen (Eric Bruhn, 1979, etc.) paints a vivid picture of pop culture in the 1980's. Haring's recounting of his own adventures forms the backbone of the book. He is remarkably frank about his gay life (he died of AIDS at the age of 31), his impatience for fame, his dissatisfaction with the art establishment. Augmenting these revelations are reminiscences by such fellow artists as Kenny Scharf and Roy Lichtenstein, art dealers Leo Castelli and Tony Shafrazi, such cult figures as Madonna and Yoko Ono, as well as Timothy Leary and William Burroughs. Even Princess Caroline of Monaco has a bit to add. It's a glittering roster, and Gruen organizes their diverse points of view with clarity and care. Few dissenting voices are heard, however, and the tone becomes nearly hagiographic. Had Gruen approached some of Haring's detractors--and there are many--the portrait would have been fuller. An occasional note of self-serving creeps in as well, as when Timothy Leary states, ``Keith and I [have] been swept by the waves of the twentieth century into the twenty-first century.'' Still, Leary does have the grace to admit that Haring ``is not Mother Teresa.'' Some readers may also be puzzled by the seeming disparity between Haring's insistence that his work is ``for the people'' and his unremitting name-dropping of the glitterati. Limited, but nonetheless a valuable overview of an 80's phenomenon and his world. (Thirty-two b&w and 105 color photographs--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gruen tells the fascinating story of Haring, from his phenomenal rise on the international art scene as graffiti artist extraordinaire, whose "radiant child" became a worldwide symbol of the Eighties pop culture, to his tragic death from AIDS at the age of 31. The book focuses on Haring's creative talent--including sculpture, painting, murals, and graphic art projects--and on his compulsive work habits, tracing his progress from concept to installation of one-man shows in Australia, Japan, France, and Monaco, among others. His life and work are seen through personal and candid interviews with the artist, members of his family, friends, and celebrities, including William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Madonna, and Princess Caroline. This shocking, graphic, and entertaining biography, however, depicts life in the fast lane, New York style, with its all-too-familiar components of celebrity, drugs, and sex. Recommended.
- Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0135161134
• ISBN 13: 9780135161135
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 259