KEITH HARING, RADIANT BABY, ICONS SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 250, 1990
Radiant Baby is one of Keith Haring’s most recognisable prints from the Icons series (1990). It shows a bright orange cartoon child, crawling on its hands and knees, with a sky-blue backdrop. Rendered in his characteristic pop-graffiti style, the figure is boldly outlined in black with thick, radiating lines pulsating from its body. The symbol first emerged in Haring’s work during his days as a subway artist in New York, where he used the Radiant Baby in place of his signature, known as his ‘tag’, on public art projects.
Rooted in his encounter with the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, Haring reworks the group’s Christian iconography to critique organised religion and the government amidst the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York. In this print, rays emanate from the child’s body, imitating a well-known convention in religious art to emphasise the baby as a holy figure like Jesus Christ. As with other prints in the series, like Angel and Flying Devil), Haring depicts religious iconography in the visual vocabulary of a cartoon, thus producing a cynical and ambiguous image.
Radiant Baby is a noteworthy example of how Haring created optimistic icons for his generation, to be displayed in public spaces during a time of technological acceleration, rampant capitalism and political turmoil. Haring described the Radiant Baby as “the purest and most positive experience of human existence” and used the figure as a symbol of hope for the future.
Read more about Icons by Keith Haring.
ABOUT KEITH HARING
Known for his bold graphic style and playful sense of humour, Keith Haring is one of the most influential and adored artists of the 20th century.
Born in Pennsylvania, in 1958, Haring was a talented draughtsman as a child and developed his cartoonish style at the hands of his father and the work of Walt Disney and Dr Seuss. However it would take some time before he realised he could marry this kind of drawing with being a fine artist. Upon graduating from high school he enrolled in a commercial art school before realising he had little interest in pursuing a career as an illustrator or graphic designer. After dropping out of college he joined the hippie movement and hitchhiked across the country where he made anti-Nixon t-shirts to pay for food and Grateful Dead tickets. Learn more about Keith Haring.
