The Universe of Keith Haring
‘Like Andy Warhol, whom he revered and later befriended, Haring was the visual artist as social phenomenon, connecting the gay scene to hip-hop, Madonna to museum culture, the democratic street to the rarefied art world.’
~The New York Times
The Universe Of Keith Haring is an intimate portrait of world-renowned artist Keith Haring. Out of a small town in Pennsylvania, Haring moved to New York and quickly became an iconic figure in the downtown scene during the 1980s. He built his reputation as a painter, graffiti artist and designer outside the closed world of the art establishment by putting his art on the street and declaring his mantra that "Art is for everyone!" His stylized silhouettes became modern icons that revolutionized the art world and buoyed him into the world of celebrity. He counted Madonna, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol amongst his friends and became an influential gay icon who campaigned tirelessly up until he died of AIDS at age 31.
With Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Julia Gruen, Kim Hastreiter, Bill T. Jones, David LaChapelle, Hans Mayer, Samantha McEwen, Carlo McCormick, Roger Nellens, Yoko Ono, Kermit Oswald, Kenny Sharf, Bruno Schmidt, Tony Shafrazi, Drew Straub, Junior Vasquez and Gil Vasquez. 82 mins. Rated: M.
An interview with director Christina Clausen will screen after the documentary.
‘Equally a portrait of the artist and a portrait of a decade, this celebratory documentary makes the short, accelerated life of Keith Haring (1958–1990) inseparable from that short, accelerated period we know as '80s New York. Haring arrived there, like his idol Andy Warhol, a small-town boy from Pennsylvania. He swiftly became an art-world star, known for vibrant, optimistic cartoons and murals—often executed in subway stations, graffiti-style, and on sidewalks—and turned into something of a gay icon. Madonna performed at his birthday party, in a dress covered with his scribbles. He painted a mostly nude Grace Jones, whom we see performing here—among many other period clips—at the famed Paradise Garage. Near decade's close, Haring was commissioned to paint the Berlin Wall—a reminder of how that era was to end so abruptly. AIDS, of course, was its punctuation note. Haring was an activist before he fell ill, and he continued to create and lecture—with generous excerpts shown here—right up to the inevitable end. With family and other members of the Keith Haring Foundation interviewed (plus Yoko Ono, Kenny Scharf, and various scenesters), Universe is not a critical appraisal of Haring's work or legacy. I lived in Manhattan during those years, and his youthful energy surely made the city a better place. Today, his art holds up less well on museum walls than as cheerful hospital murals—instruments of healing, Haring believed. Maybe that's ironic, or maybe we just live in unhealthier times.’
~The Village Voice
~The New York Times
The Universe Of Keith Haring is an intimate portrait of world-renowned artist Keith Haring. Out of a small town in Pennsylvania, Haring moved to New York and quickly became an iconic figure in the downtown scene during the 1980s. He built his reputation as a painter, graffiti artist and designer outside the closed world of the art establishment by putting his art on the street and declaring his mantra that "Art is for everyone!" His stylized silhouettes became modern icons that revolutionized the art world and buoyed him into the world of celebrity. He counted Madonna, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol amongst his friends and became an influential gay icon who campaigned tirelessly up until he died of AIDS at age 31.
With Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Julia Gruen, Kim Hastreiter, Bill T. Jones, David LaChapelle, Hans Mayer, Samantha McEwen, Carlo McCormick, Roger Nellens, Yoko Ono, Kermit Oswald, Kenny Sharf, Bruno Schmidt, Tony Shafrazi, Drew Straub, Junior Vasquez and Gil Vasquez. 82 mins. Rated: M.
An interview with director Christina Clausen will screen after the documentary.
‘Equally a portrait of the artist and a portrait of a decade, this celebratory documentary makes the short, accelerated life of Keith Haring (1958–1990) inseparable from that short, accelerated period we know as '80s New York. Haring arrived there, like his idol Andy Warhol, a small-town boy from Pennsylvania. He swiftly became an art-world star, known for vibrant, optimistic cartoons and murals—often executed in subway stations, graffiti-style, and on sidewalks—and turned into something of a gay icon. Madonna performed at his birthday party, in a dress covered with his scribbles. He painted a mostly nude Grace Jones, whom we see performing here—among many other period clips—at the famed Paradise Garage. Near decade's close, Haring was commissioned to paint the Berlin Wall—a reminder of how that era was to end so abruptly. AIDS, of course, was its punctuation note. Haring was an activist before he fell ill, and he continued to create and lecture—with generous excerpts shown here—right up to the inevitable end. With family and other members of the Keith Haring Foundation interviewed (plus Yoko Ono, Kenny Scharf, and various scenesters), Universe is not a critical appraisal of Haring's work or legacy. I lived in Manhattan during those years, and his youthful energy surely made the city a better place. Today, his art holds up less well on museum walls than as cheerful hospital murals—instruments of healing, Haring believed. Maybe that's ironic, or maybe we just live in unhealthier times.’
~The Village Voice
Speakeasy Shorts
Melbourne-based animator Isobel Knowles has curated a killer shorts program to run before each Speakeasy screening. These little gems will screen before Keith Haring (and no...she didn't put her own film in the program. I did.)
Melbourne-based animator Isobel Knowles has curated a killer shorts program to run before each Speakeasy screening. These little gems will screen before Keith Haring (and no...she didn't put her own film in the program. I did.)
Tickets
Melbourne
1000 £ Bend
361 Lt Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Sunday 01.11.09 | 8pm
Tickets, 'roo burgers, etc available through Moshtix, 1300 GET TIX (438 849) on your mobile www.moshtix.mobi and all Moshtix outlets.
Sydney
Paddington Town Hall
Sunday 22.11.09 | 6pm
Tickets through Sticky Tickets
Melbourne
1000 £ Bend
361 Lt Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Sunday 01.11.09 | 8pm
Tickets, 'roo burgers, etc available through Moshtix, 1300 GET TIX (438 849) on your mobile www.moshtix.mobi and all Moshtix outlets.
Sydney
Paddington Town Hall
Sunday 22.11.09 | 6pm
Tickets through Sticky Tickets