I dare you to find the connection. . . actually no, I already have. There was nothing I loved more than seeing Keith Haring at work. And I did many times. The guy was slight and odd looking. He worked fast, but hey what he was doing was basically illegal. It was a New York moment. And a good one. Amelia sees him too. I won't say when. I won't say why. I will say that the book opens with Sam, one of my other protagonists, riding north to Barnard. And that she spies "the chalk man" working.
A time it was, oh what a time it was. . .
So, who is/was Keith Haring? Some kind of guerrilla artist?
ReplyDeleteHe was a wonderful artist who would put up his work on the black backing that was there when a advertisement had been taken down. It was impermanent art. You'd see him working at it, wearing converse sneakers, this nerdy looking guy. He has a famous one that's still up in New York, the tag is Crack is Wack. His work is wonderful and vibrant, at least in my opinion. It also brings back the energy of that time. He died of AIDS long ago.
ReplyDeleteI Googled up Haring and checked out his art work- bold, vibrant, spontaneous, honest and uninhibited. There is a Keith Haring blog on his posthumous website. It must have been interesting to actually see him in the process of creating his art...Maybe he had the right idea- why not put art out there on available surfaces, that would be better than the weariness of endless billboards and ads everywhere. What if all that space was for art...
ReplyDeleteIt would be amazing. I wish. I guess it has something to do with being young and living in New York and watching all this . . .
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