Keith Haring's Pisa exhibition at Palazzo Blu traces his legacy
Palazzo Blu in Pisa is hosting a comprehensive exhibition on Keith Haring (1958–1990), the iconic American graffiti artist. The show, divided into nine sections, recreates the New York subway, 1980s club scenes, and highlights Haring's political messages on AIDS, drugs, and apartheid. It features works like 'Apocalypse' (1988) with William Burroughs, 'Andy Mouse' (1986) co-signed with Andy Warhol, and 'The Blueprint Drawings' from 1990. The exhibition also explores Haring's 1989 mural 'Tuttomondo' on the wall of the Convent of Sant'Antonio in Pisa, created after a meeting with student Piergiorgio Castellani in New York in 1987. Haring's collaborations with musicians Grace Jones, Madonna, and David Bowie are documented, alongside his Pop Shop in New York (1986) and Tokyo (1988). The artist died on February 16, 1990, two days after drawing his last 'Radiant Child'.
Key facts
- Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania.
- He moved to New York in 1978 and studied at the School of Visual Arts.
- Haring began drawing on unused advertising panels in the New York subway.
- His first major gallery show was at Tony Shafrazi's gallery in SoHo in 1982.
- In 1986 he painted a mural on the Berlin Wall and 'Crack is Wack' in East Harlem.
- Haring opened the Pop Shop in New York in 1986 and a second in Tokyo in 1988.
- He created the mural 'Tuttomondo' in Pisa in 1989.
- The exhibition at Palazzo Blu runs through nine thematic sections.
- Haring collaborated with William Burroughs on the 'Apocalypse' series in 1988.
- He died on February 16, 1990 from AIDS-related complications.
Entities
Artists
- Keith Haring
- Andy Warhol
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Robert Rauschenberg
- Sol LeWitt
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Futura 2000
- Fab 5 Freddy
- Grace Jones
- Madonna
- David Bowie
- William Burroughs
- Malcolm McLaren
- Larry Levan
- Henri Matisse
- Fernand Léger
- Pablo Picasso
- Jackson Pollock
- Pierre Alechinsky
- Jean Dubuffet
- Clyfford Still
- Mark Tobey
- Stuart Davis
- Walt Disney
- Piergiorgio Castellani
- Giada Fanelli
Institutions
- Palazzo Blu
- Fondazione Pisa
- School of Visual Arts
- Tony Shafrazi Gallery
- Mudd Club
- Paradise Garage
- Pop Shop
- Nakamura Keith Haring Collection
- Keith Haring Foundation
- Artribune
- United Nations School
- Phoenix House
Locations
- Pisa
- Italy
- Reading
- Pennsylvania
- United States
- New York City
- Pittsburgh
- SoHo
- East Harlem
- Berlin
- Tokyo
- Hiroshima
- Convent of Sant'Antonio
- King Street