Keith Haring – A tale of two Cities
Folk-law in art is driver of an artists legacy and the vitality it hold over new viewers and devotees. Keith Haring, contemporary of Basquiat darling of the New York arts scene and counter culture in the 1980s is one such artist who is still fondly remembered and talked about by those that he met.
in the 1984 he visited Australia to complete a number of projects. One project was on the entry “Water Wall” of the National Gallery of Victoria. Completed over a couple of days, Haring with the aid of scissor lift and his trusty ghetto blaster completed the massive mural freehand, without aid of drafts or plans. Ted Gott who then worked at the Gallery was amazed by the artists precision, speed and technical mastery. Gott called his Haring “a poetic freehand genius”, as much for his unrelenting pace and draftsmanship, combined with his soaring imagination. Tellingly, Haring would always stop for children or visitors to sign and autograph, always emblazoned with small delicate trademark Haring figures or graphic.
Sadly an irrate member of the public smashed one section of the wall and the commision was removed prematuraly. At the same time, Haring completed a massive outdoor mural that still survives in the Collingwood Technical Collage in Melbourne. Under threat of crumbling into dust, Government intransigence will most likely reduce the mural to being beyond rescue.
I visited Dietch Galleries in New York to view a large mural completed in 1985 for the St Patricks Day Care Center in San Francisco. It a remarkable mural, playful, fun and enigmatic. It is a wonderful illustration of his technical and drafting mastery, and points the way to how Melbourne needs to save its position in the Folk-law of Keith Harings generosity and artist spirit.
