Talking about Keith Haring's "First show" in 1982.

Keith Haring’s first major solo exhibition was held in 1982. This UT collection was inspired by the pieces shown at that exhibition, some of which have been approved for commercial use for the first time. We visited Haring’s studio in NoHo, New York, where David Stark and Gil Vazquez, two of his closest associates, told us the story of Haring’s auspicious debut.

Making art accessible to all.

Keith Haring moved from his native Pennsylvania to New York in 1978 to enroll at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), where he studied painting and exhibited his work at club events. However, he never forgot his roots as a street artist. In 1982, he held his first solo exhibition at the prominent Tony Shafrazi Gallery in SoHo—an event now considered an important milestone for him becoming the artist the world remembers.

Haring’s studio overlooks Broadway in NoHo, looking much as it did back in 1982. “It was like Grand Central Station, with lots of people coming in and out,” says Vazquez. “And he always painted to music, always.”

“That show was the first time he had a public opening in the art world; it was the blueprint for the Keith Haring career,” says David Stark, the licensing agent for Haring’s estate. “Up until that show, the art world was very formulaic: galleries with white walls with paintings on them. But Keith Haring was about communicating in a way that was absolutely not formulaic.”Gil Vazquez, president of the Keith Haring Foundation, agrees. “Keith tried to cover every inch of every wall, from floor to ceiling, in a way that just bombarded you. He was introducing his language and connecting with people in a very in-your-face way.”

The show was attended not just by collectors in suits and ties but also by Haring’s contemporaries and friends from different cultures, from street artists to college students. Vazquez continues, “Many cultures were combining at the time: the hip-hop culture was very new, the club culture was exciting, there were b-boys and DJs. And they were all here, mixed up in the same room with the art collectors—a sight that had probably never been seen before. One of the more important things about that show had less to do with what was on the walls and more to do with who was in the room and what was in the room: culture.”

Top: The opening of Haring’s exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982. There is a palpable energy in the crowd at being surrounded by the generous display of art covering every wall. Bottom: Haring at the opening, sporting a T-shirt of Radiant Baby, one of his most famous designs. “In photographs he looked kind of like a gangly nerd,” says Stark about Haring, “but in reality, he had so much charisma, like a celebrity.”

Following this strong start to his career, Haring became successful, in the sense that his work was popular with his many fans. But while his peers were exhibiting at museums and established venues, Haring’s work was selling in the gift shop. This unusual path to success as an artist meant that he had trouble gaining acceptance in the US art world.

Nonetheless, Haring knew that he was doing something important. Andy Warhol taught him that the best art was good business and supported him in opening the Pop Shop on Lafayette Street in Manhattan. At the time, it was unheard of for an artist to have a store, but Haring loved being able to do business and interact with people. The Pop Shop quickly became the center of a community, and fans would come from as far as Japan to buy a button or a T-shirt. “He would happily sign autographs,” says Stark, “and it was never just ‘Keith Haring.’ He would take the time to do a little drawing, something unique. He was quite generous with his time and his art. I think the Pop Shop was a form of generosity to him, in the sense that folks who could not afford expensive art could still afford a $20 T-shirt or a 50¢ pin. All the streetwear stores that came after him were modeled on the Pop Shop. He is the paradigm for all of these stores.”

Stark says that he and Vazquez often talk about how Haring did not want his art to exist solely for an elite few; he wanted to democratize art and make it available to everybody. “His practice included music, and being on MTV, and Whoopi Goldberg wearing his Free South Africa T-shirt on TV,” says Stark. “He had a burning desire to communicate. He saw social injustice, and it upset him, so he worked towards remediating the wrongs in the world.” Haring developed a visual vocabulary while at SVA not because he wanted to learn how to paint but out of a desire to communicate. He used this ability to communicate beyond the constraints of the art world, becoming an activist for Greenpeace, AIDS awareness in New York, and the antinuclear movement. “That’s what we’re doing with UNIQLO as well—making art more accessible,” says Stark. “Through these T-shirts, we’re telling a story about Keith and his 1982 show that people don’t know.”

Upon entering the building that houses Haring’s studio, visitors are greeted by some of his drawings. A door near the entrance to his fifth-floor studio boasts a photo playing on his last name and the word “herring.” Inside are a large studio and an office; the space is filled with his art as well as childhood photos, an archive of media coverage, his favorite books, and a pair of well-worn sneakers. Ink and paint stain the walls due to Haring’s habit of hanging canvases on the white walls to paint.

© Keith Haring Foundation. Licensed by Artestar, New York.