1958, born on this day in Reading Pennsylvania, Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an American artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s by expressing concepts of birth, death, sexuality, and war.
He developed a love for drawing at an early age, learning basic cartooning skills from his father and from popular culture, such as Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney.
Throughout his career, Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages. He produced more than 50 public artworks between 1982 and 1989, in dozens of cities around the world, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children’s day care centers and orphanages.
