KEITH HARING, BAYER SUITE 2, BAYER SUITE SERIES, SIGNED OFFSET LITHOGRAPH, EDITION OF 70, 1982
Bayer Suite 2 is a lithograph by Keith Haring from his Bayer Suite series that was commissioned by Bayer AG in 1982 on the occasion of the release of the heart medication ‘Sali-Adalat’. Consisting of six different lively scenes depicted in Haring’s trademark figurative style, each print focuses on the theme of movement and the heart.
Showing two genderless figures running up a set of stairs from either side, Bayer Suite 2 is symmetrical in composition, with a glowing stick at the top as the print’s focal point. Thick, red lines radiate from the central stick to reveal it as a mysterious source of power that draws the figures towards it. Haring injects the print with a sense of dynamism and movement by using multiple dotted lines on the stairs, giving the print a kinetic energy.
Across the series, Haring limits his colour palette to black, red and white, producing a highly simplified and stylised set of works. The simplistic form and positive visual language of Bayer Suite 2 recalls the artist’s early subway drawings, where he spent his days drawing in white chalk on the empty advertising panels of the New York subway system.
Read more about Bayer Suite 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.
