KEITH HARING, APOCALYPSE 6, APOCALYPSE SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 90, 1988
Keith Haring’s Apocalypse 6 is a bright composition taken from his Apocalypse series (1988), depicted in bold lines, gestural marks and splashes of vivid colour to create a dynamic and complex image. The scene shows a portrait of a large human-like figure, its head forming a double image with a collaged copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
The appropriated image of the Mona Lisa forms the focal point of the print and produces a jarring effect between the self-assured visual perfection of high art and rawness of Haring’s gestural marks. Defaced by Haring’s line drawings, the Mona Lisa has rays emanating from her head and appears to be placed against a cross. Highlighted by drip lines that appear like string, the large human-like figure appears to be controlling the Mona Lisa like a puppet with its large arms.
Haring’s visceral and uninhibited graffiti style, accentuated by the drip and splatter marks, makes clear his own bodily suffering due to AIDS and the aguish felt in relation to the chaos of contemporary events. Furthermore, by using the image of a puppet master in Apocalypse 6, Haring alludes to totalitarian-style manipulation and the oppressiveness of government indifference to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1980s America.
Read more about Apocalypse 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.
