KEITH HARING, GROWING 5, GROWING SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 100, 1988
Striking in its use of bright colour and bold shapes, Growing 5 is a print from Keith Haring’s Growing series from 1988 that shows an unusual arrangement of figures. Much like other works in the series, Growing 5 is symmetrical in composition, showing two central figures with their arms outstretched and a figure on either side with their bodies bent over inwards, hiding their heads.
A sense of pattern is created by Haring in this print through his use of angular lines and flattened picture plane. Growing 5 makes clear the way in which Haring’s work appeals to both children and adults alike, using a limited colour palette of four vivid colours – red, blue, yellow and green – and simplified shapes that interlock with one another. Haring’s figures in this print are conjoined and flow into one another so as to emphasise a sense of community and the power of working together.
Haring’s use of symmetry along a vertical central axis and abundance of form marks a clear affinity with Australian Aboriginal and Aztec art. Across the image Haring uses concentric circles, curving, organic lines, figures and zig zags, to create an abstract pictorial system that moves and flows with the viewer’s eye. Indeed, Haring’s focus on pattern makes this work distinctly ‘primitive’, much like that of the European Modernists like Klee and Matisse.
Read more about Growing 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.
