Growing 2
Growing 2
Signed Print
Keith Haring
Screenprint, 1988
Signed Print Edition of 100
H 73cm x W 98cm
Critical Review
This signed screen print from 1988 is a limited edition of 100 from Keith Haring’s Growing series. Growing 2 shows a symmetrical image of four figures interconnected and conjoined by the torso of the central figure. Haring depicts these figures in black and contours the subject in blue, rounded outlines, setting the image against a vivid red backdrop. Typical of Haring’s figurative style, rounded lines are used to create a sense of energy and movement in the print, as though these figures are dancing or working with one another.
Haring’s print strikes a balance between pattern and figuration in such a way that it recalls the art of Australian Aborigines, something that the artist claimed to be unaware of. This sense of pattern across the image surface is emphasised by the symmetrical composition and the way in which Haring fits the figures together in a complex interconnected system. The use of flat, contrasting colours also further emphasises the abstract surface pattern of the image, with the bright yellow circles as the focal point from which the pattern emerges.
Showing a number of figures stemming from the single individual in a complex interconnected system, Haring makes his point that working together and forming community can be more powerful than working alone. The figures in Growing 2 could also be seen to be break dancing, something that Haring became very interested in as a means to communicate joy and togetherness.
