What Caught Our Eye | Pop Art Uncovered After 30 Years

What Caught Our Eye

Keith Haring was an American pop art artist of the last century and a social activist. His work was a response to New York's street culture in the 1980s. He studied graphic design, then became interested in graffiti and began studying at the School of Visual Arts. He was known for his distinctive style and signature, which he used to paint many well-known walls and buildings with exterior paints. He died in 1990 from complications related to HIV infection.

With his signature style and way of working, he created a cartoon-like motif typical of Haring in Amsterdam: a homeless man riding on the back of a hybrid animal. The creature partly resembles a dog, a motif that often appears in Haring's work, and partly a sea creature, capturing the side of Haring's work that was often desperate and politically charged.

Haring used exterior paints to paint this stunning piece on the facade of the Stedelijk Museum warehouse to celebrate his first solo museum exhibition in 1986. A few years later, however, it was covered with sheets of aluminum during an air-conditioning project. This great gift to the city remained hidden and was almost forgotten.

Now, thanks to a campaign led by legendary graffiti artist Mick La Rock, Dutch gallery Vroom & Varossieu, and the Stedelijk Museum itself, the work will be restored, preserved, and displayed for new generations of fans of street art.

Today, you can see some of Keith Haring’s works at Vienna’s Albertina Museum.

I hope I’ve given you an interesting idea for an art-filled day trip.

Best regards,

Sabína