Upcoming Keith Haring exhibit

by Antonius Wiriadjaja

Deitch Studios (http://www.deitch.com/) in Long Island City will be exhibiting Keith Haring’s The Ten Commandments for the first time in the United States on November 8, 2008.

The works portray the Ten Commandments from Haring’s point of view, combining a traditional Biblical interpretation with the artist’s liberating spirit and apocalyptic vision. The Ten Commandments were painted for Haring’s first solo museum show, a 1985 exhibition at the CAPC, Bordeaux, a reconverted wool warehouse with a span of twenty-five foot high archways supporting the roof. (Via Deitch Studios)

Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work was inspired by New York’s graffiti art and culture in the 1980s.  He began drawing cartoon-like icons and creating symbolic images with chalk throughout the city.  His most famous figure, the Radiant Child, was a simple line-drawn figure in poses that reflect hip hop and gay dance club music.  The photographer Tseng Kwong Chi began photographing Haring’s artwork, culminating in the “Art in Transit” exhibit in 1984.  Haring rose to international stardom until his death from AIDS at age 31.

The Ten Commandments
November 08, 2008 — December 21, 2008
4-40 44th Drive, Long Island City