KEITH HARING, BAD BOYS 5, BAD BOYS SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 30, 1986
Bad Boys 5 is a screen print from Keith Haring’s Bad Boys series from 1986 that shows a nude male figure taking part in sexually explicit activity. Rendered with free flowing black lines against a white backdrop, this is a striking image that catches the viewer’s attention in both form and subject matter.
Haring’s Bad Boys series is one of the few works that stipulates the gender of the figures in each print. This is an explicit celebration of Haring’s own sexuality, and the artist’s energetic, frenzy of bold lines used to depict the figure in Bad Boys 5 is a testament to this. Moreover, this print is distinguishable in that Haring depicts the figure with a face, unusual when considered alongside his early figurative work.
The sexually explicit subject matter of Haring’s Bad Boys series is indicative of a turning point in the artist’s career, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit the LGBT+ community in 1980s New York. As an openly gay artist and activist in the LGBT rights movement, Haring used his work to fight against homophobia and advocate for safe sex, awareness and research around HIV and AIDS.
Read more about Bad Boys 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.
