KEITH HARING, THE BLUEPRINT DRAWINGS 13, THE BLUEPRINT DRAWINGS SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 33, 1990
This screen print, The Blueprint Drawings 13, is from Keith Haring’s The Blueprint Drawings series from 1990 and features a series of frames describing the spread of HIV/AIDS in an imaginary phallocentric world. The events that play out in Haring’s print are expressed through the graphic of a comic strip, rendered in the artist’s iconic linear black and white style.
The Blueprint Drawings 13 shows a UFO emitting beams of light and striking a spotty barking dog, which is then penetrated by a figure with an erect penis. Haring uses dots in this print to convey the otherness of homosexuality and illness, specifically AIDS, and he depicts this process of transmission starting with the UFO and ending with the infection of the human figure.
Through his use of graphic dots and emanating lines, Haring depicts infection from illness as radiant and energised thus subverting traditional HIV/AIDS narratives. This is emphasised by the way that the comic strip ends with the radiant dog and radiant penis being celebrated by a crowd of anonymous figures. The Blueprint Drawings 6 is exemplary of how Haring uses a simplified visual language and syntax of symbols to communicate hard-hitting and explicit messages around HIV/AIDS, sexuality and death.
Read more about The Blueprint Drawings 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.
