Drawing Social Impact
Organizer: Nakamura Keith Haring Collection
Support: U.S. Embassy in Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefectural Board of Education, Hokuto City, Hokuto City Board of Education
Cooperation: Keith Haring Foundation, CMIC Holdings Co., Ltd.
An artist is a spokesman for a society at any given point in history. His language is determined by his perception of the world we all live in. He is a medium between “what is” and “what could be.”
—Keith Haring (Keith Haring Journals, 1984)
In 1978, at the age of 20, Keith Haring moved from his hometown in Pennsylvania to New York City. At the time, New York was a city of stark contrasts: plagued by economic recession, violence, and discrimination, yet bursting with creativity as the birthplace of street cultures like hip-hop and graffiti. Deeply influenced by the counterculture of this turbulent metropolis, Haring spent his life delivering messages through art, both in New York and around the world.
Haring’s earliest significant engagement with society came through his Subway Drawings on New York’s subway system. The blank advertising panels in subway stations became ideal canvases for public art, where Haring’s quick, chalk-drawn graffiti carried witty and direct messages accessible to all. Later, he turned to poster art, tackling pressing social issues such as nuclear disarmament, anti-apartheid, AIDS prevention, and LGBTQ awareness.
Haring’s work championed art that transcended class, status, gender, race, religion, and culture, ensuring it could be experienced by everyone. Even in today’s world, marked by terrorism and unending wars, his art continues to deliver a timeless and powerful message.This exhibition debuts the museum’s newly acquired Altarpiece: The Life of Christ (1990). Completed just weeks before Haring’s death from AIDS complications at age 31 on February 16, 1990, it was his final work. Designed as an altarpiece, the bronze triptych is gilded in white gold and is housed in nine churches and museums worldwide, including New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where Haring’s memorial service was held. This eternal masterpiece captures Haring’s hope for peace, his enduring wish for life, and the strength of his spirit.
INSTALLATION VIEW
FEATURED ARTWORKS
Untitled, 1985
Altarpiece: The Life of Christ, 1990
