The Emotional Punch of Keith Haring

If you lived in or visited New York City in the early 80's, Keith Haring had an impact on you.  He was beyond ahead of his time.  Now it's all about musicians giving away their music to get heard.  Keith was giving away his art when no one else was doing that. He believed in having art accessible to everyone.  This is something he got chastised for when he opened the Pop Shop on Lafayette St.

Keith saw an opening.  There were big black canvases all over the city subway system.  Where there wasn't an ad, Keith saw a canvas.  His atomic babies, spaceships and barking dogs were everywhere. How could you not smile when you saw them?  His art also had a message.  There was lots of love and lots of social awareness to his work. 

The Brooklyn Museum is currently exhibiting his earlier works in drawings, paintings, journals and video.  The Keith Haring Foundation (which he established to carry on his legacy of working with children and AIDS awareness) has created a tumblr account, which posts a different page from his journal for everyday of the exhibit.  Being a New Yorker, I love the poem The Smog Frog. 

I'm sure this exhibit will not only delight, but educate.  Can't wait to see it.