Haring

Happy land. The cheerful art of street culture's most famous proponent

By the time of his death from AIDS at the age of 31, Keith Haring (1958-1990) was already a wildly successful and popular artist. Haring’s original and instantly recognizable style, full of thick black lines, bold colours, and graffiti-inspired cartoon-like figures won him the appreciation of both the art world and the general public; his work appeared simultaneously on T-shirts, gallery walls, and public murals. In 1986, Haring founded Pop Shop, a boutique in New York’s SoHo selling Haring-designed memorabilia, to benefit charities and help bring his work closer to the public and especially street kids, with whom he never lost contact.

About the Series:

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art Series features:

- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance

- a concise biography

- approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions

The author:

Alexandra Kolossa studied art history, German literature, and business administration in Trier. She took her doctorate in 2003. Since 1998 she has been a freelance author and contemporary art exhibition curator. She lives and works in Düren, Germany.