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19/10/2006

Keith Haring

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead

BALTIC presents an exhibition by seminal artist Keith Haring. Haring's work responded to the street culture of New York in the 1980s, and he used the directness of graffiti art to make his signature style known. Powerfully combining the voice of the street and the voice of the gallery system, he created a visual language which has become universally recognised.

BALTIC will display a series of drawings created during an extremely immersive time when the artist returned to drawing after his time as a student at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York when he experimented widely with video, performance and installation. Though he always maintained a strong commitment to drawing, in 1980 the longing to devote more time, energy and focus upon this medium became overwhelming, and it was during this period that he developed his unique visual language. This is the first time these drawings have been displayed in the UK.

The exhibition consists of 3 series of early drawings, a total of 27 individual works. One of the series was created specifically for the magazine P.I.M - Public Illumination Magazine, 'the world's smallest magazine of its kind' (7 cm x 11 cm). Independently produced in New York and still published, each issue has a theme and Haring contributed to issue #13, in 1981, on the theme of Civilization. Here, we see a continuation of his signature vocabulary in these surreal and engaging visual narratives with their direct and appealing comic strip style.

Drawing was Haring's passion from an early age; the abstract language gave space to more complex and figurative visual language that would characterise the rest of his career. He used a very personal language and style, to communicate basic emotions through creating timeless images. A greatly influential artist, he was able to communicate to many generations and across many cultural boundaries. He was also highly committed to social causes, putting his art to the service of the community to make a contribution towards the arrest of the spread of AIDS, drug addictions, fighting for gay rights and against racial discrimination, but most of all acting on behalf of children.

During a brief but intense career Haring's work was featured in over 100 solo and group exhibitions. He was highly sought after to participate in special projects and collaborated with artists and performers such as Madonna, Grace Jones, Bill T. Jones, William Burroughs, Timothy Leary, Jenny Holzer and Andy Warhol. By expressing universal concepts of birth, death, love, sex and war, using a primacy of line and directness of message, Haring was able to attract a wide audience and assure the accessibility and staying power of his imagery, which has become a universally recognised visual language of the 20th century.

Exhibition supported by Embassy of United States of America, London

Keith Haring: Biography

Keith Haring was born in 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, and was raised in nearby Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He developed a love for drawing at an early age, learning basic cartooning skills from his father and from the popular culture around him, such as Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney.

In 1978 Haring moved to New York City and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts (SVA). Here he found a thriving alternative art community that was developing outside the gallery and museum system, in the downtown streets, the subways and spaces in clubs and former dance halls. He became friends with fellow artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as the musicians, performance artists and graffiti writers that comprised the burgeoning art community. Haring was swept up in the energy and spirit of this scene and began to organise and participate in exhibitions and performances at Club 57 and other alternative venues.

From 1980-1986, Haring achieved international recognition participating in numerous group and solo exhibitions. His first solo show in New York, held at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982, was immensely popular and received critical acclaim. During this period, he participated in highly renowned international survey exhibitions such as Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany, the Sao Paulo Biennial and the Whitney Biennial. He completed numerous public projects in the first half of the 80's ranging from an animation for the Spectacolor billboard in Times Square, designing sets and backdrops for theatres and clubs; to developing watch designs for Swatch and creating murals worldwide.

In April 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop, a retail store in Soho selling T-shirts, toys, posters, buttons and magnets bearing his images. Haring considered the shop to be an extension of his work.

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 centres and orphanages. The now famous Crack is Wack mural of 1986 has become a landmark along New York's FDR Drive.

Other projects include; a mural created for the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986, on which Haring worked with 900 children; a mural on the exterior of Necker Children's Hospital in Paris, France in 1987; and a mural painted on the western side of the Berlin Wall three years before its fall. Haring also held drawing workshops for children in schools and museums in New York, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Bordeaux, and produced imagery for many literacy programs and other public service campaigns.

Haring was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. In 1989, he established the Keith Haring Foundation, its mandate being to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organisations and children's programmes, and to expand the audience for Haring's work through exhibitions, publications and the licensing of his images. Haring enlisted his imagery during the last years of his life to speak about his own illness and generate activism and awareness about AIDS.

Keith Haring died of AIDS related complications at the age of 31 on February 16, 1990. Since his death, he has been the subject of several international retrospectives. The work of Keith Haring can be seen today in the exhibitions and collections of major museums around the world.

Image: Keith Haring, Dolphin

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Chiho Aoshima
21 October - 28 January 2007

In her first UK solo show Chiho Aoshima presents her intricate fantasy worlds of zombies and fairies, rainbows and tsunamis, urban landscapes and nature. From a confrontation with a gigantic wave of destruction to a journey through her imaginary world from the perspective of a worm, Aoshima’s fantasy worlds suggest a multitude of possibilities for the visitor experience.

Chiho Aoshima is a digital artist. She perfects her work on the computer using the software Illustrator and then prints it in a variety of forms including large-scale murals. In the past, these murals have been installed in places such as advertising spaces, gallery walls and even complete rooms.

Chiho Aoshima’s work can be described as combination of manga and traditional Japanese scroll painting. The artist is associated with the superflat movement, a contemporary Japanese art movement reflecting the two-dimensionality in contemporary Japanese pop culture.

The combination of nature and culture is one of the substantial elements in Aoshima’s work which often reflects her concerns about global patterns of abnormal weather. In Magma Spirit Explodes. Tsunami is Dreadful (2004), a candy coloured, gigantic wave of magma with a girl’s face carries a wave of destruction and faces a fire-spitting mirror reflection of herself. This piece is a chromogenic reproduction of Aoshima’s largest wallpaper piece to date, originally presented at the Carnegie Museum of Art. In addition to this apocalyptical scenery, BALTIC shows a series of the artist’s prints.

City Glow (2005) is an animated version of Chiho Aoshima’s work. This seven minute long journey plays across five flat-panel screens located in BALTIC’s ground floor gallery space. Produced in collaboration with animation director Bruce Ferguson, it takes us on a fantastical trip in which we see the transformation of nature, seasons and life and allows us to forge our own way through Aoshima’s magical landscape.

BALTIC is a major international centre for contemporary art situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, England. A world leader in the presentation, commissioning and communication of contemporary art, BALTIC presents a constantly changing, distinctive and ambitious programme of exhibitions and events. BALTIC has welcomed over 2.2 million visitors, since opening in July 2002.

PRESS VIEW: FRIDAY 20 OCTOBER, 14.00 - 16.00

BALTIC is a major international centre for contemporary art situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, England. A world leader in the presentation, commissioning and communication of contemporary art, BALTIC presents a constantly changing, distinctive and ambitious programme of exhibitions and events. BALTIC has welcomed over 2.2 million visitors, since opening in July 2002.

For further press information / images contact: Katie Jackson, Communications Assistant katiej@balticmill.com /+44 (0)191 440 4912

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Gateshead Quays
South Shore Road, Gateshead NE8 3BA, United Kingdom
Opening hours: Daily 10.00 - 18.00
ADMISSION FREE

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