Keith Haring's Journal Published in French by Flammarion

Flammarion has published a French edition of Keith Haring's journal, which he kept from 1977 until his death. The journal begins on April 29, 1977, in Pittsburgh, where Haring suddenly felt the desire to 'just live.' In it, he reflects on his transgressive works, comparing his paintings to visual poems and viewing street art as a celebration of humanity accessible to all, free from economic influence. The diary offers daily meditations filled with doubt, revealing a sagacious and truly free mind. Through his travels to Paris and Tokyo, readers revisit the 1980s art world from a personal yet broad perspective. Shepard Fairey, in his introduction to this edition, suggests that Haring develops a worldview through his writing. The journal sheds light on aspects of his work: his idea of children's innocence, his interest in break dance and electric boogie. It also reveals the torments of a man consumed by illness—AIDS, identified as 'demon sperm' in a 1988 series. Haring's 'creative independence' makes him an heir to Jean Dubuffet, Stuart Davis, Fernand Léger, Frank Stella, and even popular Mexican representations of death. Without knowing it, Haring wrote for posterity, leaving a striking testimony of his work and his era through sometimes anecdotal remarks. The review was written by Diane Elguer for artpress.