The Universe of Keith Haring (2008)

Directed by: Christina Clausen | 90 minutes | documentary | Actors: Keith Haring, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Julia Gruen, Kim Hastreiter, Bill T. Jones, David LaChapelle, Hans Mayer, Samantha McEwen, Carlo McCormick, Roger Nellens, Yoko Ono, Kermit Oswald, Kenny Scharf, Bruno Schmidt, Tony Schafraic

For a documentary filmmaker, the Pop Art and life of Keith Haring must be wonderful subjects to portray. His artistic legacy is great and can be found everywhere. In the documentary we see hundreds of illustrations and self-made film fragments by Haring. For those who don’t quite remember who Keith Haring was, the film starts a bit slow with a bit too much ‘talking heads’, but that is made up for after the first ten minutes by an immersion in art and inspiration. Through all the well-known works and especially his own distinctive style, you discover that Haring has a clear place in the collective subconscious. You always think: “Oh yes, I know that image from somewhere.” This documentary appeals to that place and provides a good chronological overview of a remarkable life of an innovative artist by means of interviews (for example with Yoko Ono) and sometimes with Keith Haring as narrator.

From his time in New York, Keith Haring’s Pop Art has been embraced with a thousand arms. Haring is at the center of the scene: the clubs revolve around him, everyone wants to be around him and the established artistic and intellectual order is by his side. Haring gives his free spirit space and travels all over the world to bring his art to the people. ‘Art should be there for everyone’, that is his ideal. And that is why we still see so many of Haring’s works on the street, in public buildings such as libraries and museums; in society. We can see that Haring does not rise above himself from the story in which he sees Andy Warhol, a great source of inspiration, sitting in a restaurant. He wants to get in touch with Warhol, but doesn’t know what to say or ask. After walking back and forth in front of the restaurant for a while, he finally leaves. A while later he is called by Warhol, the two have a connection and become friends. The documentary provides an interesting insight between these two artistic minds: Andy Warhol, the artist who turns everyday things into art, and Keith Haring, the Pop Artist who brings his art into the everyday.

A few interesting pieces of information lurk beneath the surface of the big story that deals solely with Haring. In conversation with one of Haring’s student friends, artist Kenny Scharf, we notice that something changes in Haring’s social environment when he starts earning a lot of money from his work. The young artists with whom he is surrounded place him on a pedestal, are sometimes secretly jealous and have the feeling that they are lagging behind Haring’s success.

We also see interviews with family members who, on the one hand, speak with pride and praise about Haring, but on the other hand initially had no idea of ​​his lifestyle in New York. For example, his homosexual relationships are initially described by his parents as friendships. The dynamics between Keith and his parents around this subject don’t quite come up in the film. Perhaps that was not the intention of documentary maker Christina Clausen, but it is an interesting subject.

Keith Jaring’s universe is different from others. He was an innovator and radiated freedom. He made many, many works until his death. Work that was accessible to a large group of people. A few weeks before he died, he was still working in Berlin. Just before his death he said: ‘I still have so much to do’. All this is included in a beautiful documentary that can be inspiring at times. Watching this movie is a good plan to fully understand who Keith Haring was. Dive into his bizarre universe and paint an ode, preferably in a place that everyone can see.