KEITH HARING, ANDY MOUSE 2, ANDY MOUSE SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 30, 1986
Complete with a pink spiky wig and red glasses, this tribute to Andy Warhol is characteristic of Keith Haring’s playful sense of humour. Here he depicts the father of Pop Art as a Mickey Mouse figure held aloft by a group of his signature dancing figures, all emitting energy lines of joy while Warhol remains inscrutable.
As well as being a tribute to Warhol, the work is also a reference to Haring’s childhood when he would spend hours copying beloved Walt Disney cartoons with his father, which led to him becoming an artist. After a brief spell as a commercial artist in Pittsburgh Haring trained at the School of Visual Art in New York where he learned about the visual language of signs and began making a name for himself on the street where he developed his unique style, in close proximity to graffiti artists and hip hop musicians.
Made in 1986 when Haring was at the height of his career, this work demonstrates his universal appeal, or, as curator David Ross put it, ‘His use of simplified figurative abstract forms and his highly graphic style gave his works an immediate character, the complexity of his puzzlelike constructions pulled the viewer deeply into a unique picture space. Haring’s art radiated energy and he carefully directed that energy beyond the confines of the art world.’
Read more about Andy Mouse 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.
