Monday, December 29, 2014

"The Political Line" - Keith Haring Exhibition at De Young Museum


DSCN9630 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Last Saturday, I visited De Young Museum in San Francisco to see the special exhibit "Keith Haring The Political Line", which was my first encounter with this iconic artist, who was mostly active in the 1980s.

DSCN9779 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Without direct experience of living through the traumatic periods in the aftermath of Vietnam War and the rampage of AIDS in the US, I sometime had hard time to connect to Keith Haring's works, and the impact of his works were less palpable, though I readily acknowledge his importance and influence in the art world.  That said, in some of his works, I felt some eerie resonances, such as the Untitled from 1981 below, which could be easily depicting the national shame of Guantánamo:

DSCN9626 _ Untitled, 1981, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1981

Despite the cultural distance from his more pop-influenced works, I did feel his works engaging and several of them quite visually beautiful. Below are those works left strongest impressions on me:

DSCN9610 _ Untitled, 1981, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1981

DSCN9608 _ Everybody Knows Where Meat Comes from, it Comes from the Store, 1978, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Everybody Knows Where Meat Comes from, it Comes from the Store, 1978

DSCN9613 _ Untitled, 1978, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1978

DSCN9661 _ Untitled, 1985, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1985

DSCN9650 _ Untitled, 1983 (with Kermit Oswald), Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1983 (with Kermit Oswald)

DSCN9690 _ Walking in the Rain, 1980, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Walking in the Rain, 1980

DSCN9624 _ Untitled, 1982, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1982

DSCN9658 _ Untitled, 1985, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled, 1985

DSCN9659 _ Untitled (Apartheid), 1984, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9684 _ Untitled, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Untitled (Apartheid), 1984, & Untitled

DSCN9686 _ A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1986, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9689 _ Silence=Death, 1988, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1986, & Silence=Death, 1988

DSCN9687 _ The Last Rainforest, Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
The Last Rainforest

DSCN9670 _ Sarcophagus, 1983, (with LA II (Angel Ortiz), Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14
Sarcophagus, 1983, (with LA II (Angel Ortiz)

DSCN9657 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9653 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9668 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9680m _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9699 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9646 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9644 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9641 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9701 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Outside the exhibition hall, one could see the motif of his work in the gift shop, and on a vintage car:

DSCN9703 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14 DSCN9705 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

DSCN9709 _ Keith Haring The Political Line, De Young, 27 Dec 14

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Modernism from the National Gallery of Art in De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Venetian Masterpieces from Vienna at De Young Museum
- Last Call - "The Girl With A Pearl Earring" in De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris - De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Post-Impressionism Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, De Young Museum, San Francisco 2010-11
- My Favorite De Young Museum Collections
- Another Look at De Young Museum in San Francisco

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