KEITH HARING, THE KING, SIGNED LITHOGRAPH, EDITION OF 50, 1989
Depicted in the artist’s late graphic style, The King is a lithograph by Keith Haring from 1989 that shows a vibrant and complex scene of unusual figures and symbols. Reminiscent of Haring’s Apocalypse series from 1988, this print is depicted in bold lines, gestural marks and splashes of colour to create a dynamic image that evokes a sense of chaos and violence.
Completed the year of Haring’s tragic AIDS diagnosis in 1988, this print is expressive of the artist’s feelings towards his illness due to his use of splatter marks and visceral brushstrokes. Notably Haring seems to convey a sense of time running out and its relation to death in his depiction of hourglass sand timers and skeletons.
The central figure in Haring’s The King print is a large, robotic head wearing a large crown and tentacles growing as hair. Beneath the linear drawing of the figure’s face is a newspaper clipping of an unidentifiable group of people. Inspired by figures like Andy Warhol from the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, Haring inserts images like this from mass media to bridge the gap between high art and mass consumerism so as to dissolve boundaries between fine art, political activism and popular culture.
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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.
