KEITH HARING

1958 - 1990 (1958 - 1990) It was in the early 1980s when these neat, abstract signs and figures, closely relatedto cartoons, first appeared on building walls and initially brought the young Keith Haring into trouble with the police until Haring made a name for himself in art. Born in 1958, Keith Haring came to New York 1978 after dropping his studies in advertiseing graphics, and enrolled at the School of Visual Art. The East Village way of life, with its clubs, its rap- and breakdance-music, became Keith Haring´s spiritual home and the breeding ground of his graffiti. With a lot of energy, Keith Haring understood how to attractthe attention of the art scene. It did not take long to become a cult figure of New York´s avant-garde and culture lovers. Keith Haring consistently commercialised his creations in his own shops like the "Pop Shop" in Manhattan. Soon Keith Haring´s figures could be found decorating T-shirts, watches, shopping bags and buttons. Keith Haring succumbed to Aids in 1990 in New York at the age of 31.