vintage posters

Transcription

vintage posters

V I N TA G E
POSTERS
17 OCTOBER 2014
18 JANUARY 2015
PONT DE LA MACHINE
FREE ADMISSION
© Keith Haring Foundation
Educational
Leaflet
Educational
Leaflet
Presentation of the Exhibition
Quartier Libre SIG welcomes the Keith Haring – Vintage Posters exhibition from 17 October
2014 until 18 January 2015, featuring, for the first time in Switzerland, the largest collection
of posters created by Keith Haring, iconic artist who left his mark on the 80’s New York
alternative scene. Driven by his desire to make art accessible to as many people as possible,
Keith Haring expresses through these 85 posters the importance of raising public awareness on
major issues, such as AIDS prevention measures, racism, drugs, commitment to environmental
protection, or promotion of culture.
Keith Haring was one of the most innovative artists of his times. He is famous for his stick figures, which
are easily identifiable, and the pieces which he created in public spaces. The urban environment allowed
him to express himself by blurring the boundaries between art, street, and everyday life.
A skilled advertising-man, Keith Haring created several posters characterised by bold lines and highly
legible bright colours that irresistibly draw the eye. They are the concreate expression of his social, cultural
and political commitment, as well as of his desire to make the world a better place.
The exhibition invites the public to discover the visual language of Keith Haring through the largest ever
collection of poster art, and through the documentary called “Keith Haring, le petit prince de la rue”, which
retraces the extraordinary career of this artist.
Guided Tours
Practical Information
(from age 11)
Quartier Libre SIG offers
guided tours for schools,
neighbourhood houses,
and associations.
Visit
Interactive guided tours
to discover the posters
created by Keith Haring
through the following four
themes: promotion of exhibits,
advertising, culture, and
social issues.
Clarification on the posters’
content and messages.
Quartier Libre SIG
Pont de la Machine 1
1204 Geneva
Registration
T +41 (0)22 420 75 75
or at exposition@sig-ge.ch
Monday to Friday,
9 am – 5 pm
Saturday & Sunday
10 am – 5 pm
Free admission
Languages
French or English
For more information
www.sig-quartierlibre.ch
Guided tours
Mondays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays
9:15 am, 10:30 am or 2 pm
Duration: 45 minutes
Group of 10 to 25 people
maximum
Treasure hunt available.
Quartier Libre SIG | 17 October 2014 – 18 January 2015
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Educational
Leaflet
The Artist’s Biography
Keith Haring was born on 4 May 1958 in Reading, and grew up in Kutztown,
a city a bit to the North of Pennsylvania. From an early age, he was
immersed into the comic books and Walt Disney world thanks to his father,
who introduced him to the art of drawing.
From 1976 until 1978, he attends the Ivy School of Professional Art
in Pittsburgh, and then moves to New York where he enrols at the School
of Visual Arts to pursue his passion, drawing. It is here that Keith Haring meets
artists such as Kenny Scharf* and Jean-Michel Basquiat*.
© Photo by Lenore Seroka
In 1980, he creates his first drawing in chalk on a black background
on non-used display panels in the New York subway. It is in this popular place
that he displays his “Radiant Baby”, one of his most popular characters.
His drawings are displayed on the illuminated billboards of the Manhattan’s
Times Square. A symbol of energy and life, this baby on all fours became
his signature figure.
From 1980 until 1981, he has exhibits in several places, including in Club 57* and Mudd Club
in New York.
In 1982, he creates his very first poster for a demonstration in Central Park against nuclear power
and holds an exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York, where his work is a huge success,
and then another exhibit at the Documenta 7 in Kassel. From 1982, he begins to create wall paintings
all over the world.
In 1983, Pierre Keller, the Principal of the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, meets Keith Haring
in New York, and offers him the opportunity to create the poster for the Montreux Jazz Festival.
And this was only the beginning, as the artist is invited in Montreux, Switzerland to create several original
panels all over the city.
The following year, Keith Haring meets William S. Burroughs*, writer, and becomes friends with
Andy Warhol*. For the first time ever, he does body painting on his friend, choreographer Bill T. Jones.
The same year, he displays his art at the Lucion Amelio Gallery in Naples, and at the Biennial of Sao Paulo.
In 1984, Keith Haring is the artist-in-residence at the Art Fest at the Walker Art Centre of Minneapolis.
In 1985, he is hired by the United Nations to create the cover and lithography* for the International
Youth Year. A little later on, he body paints Grace Jones and exhibits at the Venice Biennial.
The same year, in 1985, he creates the cover page and the main page for the Scholastic News,
a magazine for schoolchildren, and he also designs his “Free South Africa” poster to fight the Apartheid
in South Africa. He regularly conducts workshops for children and adolescents all over the world.
In 1986, he designs several wall paintings on the Berlin Wall, and in New York, such as the “Crack
is Wack” poster. In his desire to reach a wider audience, Keith Haring opens his Pop Shop in New York
where he sells his end products. The same year, he exhibits at the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam.
*Glossary page 9
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Educational
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In 1988, he finds out that he is suffering from AIDS. Knowing of the fate that awaits him, he increases
his activity. Following the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic, and the death of several of his friends and
lovers, he takes part in the Art against AIDS, offering his art and notoriety at the service of this cause.
At the same time, he creates a merry-go-round for the Hamburg’s Luna Luna travelling amusement
park, he creates a wall painting in Paris on the façade of the Necker Hospital for Sick Children and
participates in the Skulptur Projekt in Munster.
The “Literacy Campaign” is designed in 1988 on the initiative of the New York Library Association.
He opens a Pop Shop in Tokyo which is met with great success.
In 1989, Haring creates the “Apocalypse” silkscreen art print series, and the group of etchings “The
Valley”, in collaboration with William S. Burroughs. He creates wall paintings in Barcelona, “Together
We Can Stop AIDS”, and another one, in Pisa, on the façade of the San Antonio Church. The same
year, he designs his famous poster “Ignorance = Fear” and sets up the Keith Haring Foundation to fight
against AIDS and offer educational opportunities to disadvantaged children.
Between 1989 and 1990, he is hired by the United Nations to create the inaugural cover and a lithography
for “Stop AIDS World-Wide Year”. In February 1990, Keith Haring succumbs to his disease, leaving
behind important and socially committed work, part of which is displayed today at the Quartier Libre SIG.
The Art of Keith Haring
Democratisation of Art
Keith Haring does not owe his fame to art critics and museums,
but rather to the public. He chooses the urban space to create
and disseminate socially committed messages, thus eliminating the
barriers between the museum and everyday life, making art accessible
to everybody and speaking directly to his public.
An Exceptional Talent
The artist draws inspiration from the city, from music and from dance,
providing his art the immediacy of life. By painting on the walls of the
New York’s subway system, he learns to quickly execute his motifs
without any prior sketches, and without compromising the substance
of his forms. He masters short, synthetic messages, and knows how
to make himself understood in just a few fractions of a second.
The semiotics classes he took during his studies proved to be
a revelation to him. This education allowed him to create a very
rhythmical language, with simple and easily recognisable signs.
His continuous and flexible strokes give life to forms drawing on art
belonging to various ethnic groups. The black contours become his
trade mark, and his style is close to that featured in comic books and
cartoons, which inspire him. A variety of animals and other mythical
creatures, often clearly sexualised, expand his repertoire and bring
humour and energy to his work.
*Glossary page 9
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The intense drawing of Pierre Alechinsky*, the floor painting of Jackson Pollock*, the wavy shapes
of Jean Dubuffet* are all sources of inspiration for Haring. He has boundless admiration for the work
of Andy Warhol, with whom he develops a great friendship.
A Viscerally Activist Artist
In Keith Haring’s opinion, the artist is the society’s spokesperson. He creates out of his personal
experience and he is marked by the social, cultural and political events of the 80’s: the cold war, the fall
of the Berlin Wall, the evolution of the media landscape with the emergence of talk-shows, computer
games, laptops, nuclear threat, or AIDS. Furthermore, he devotes all his energy to prevent AIDS,
to which he succumbs in 1990. He addresses without compromise religion, violence, and sexuality.
A socially conscious artist, Keith Haring constantly seeks to raise awareness through powerful messages.
Original, generous and loving life in all its forms, Keith Haring is constantly innovating. He works
on all sorts of surfaces and spaces, and uses various types of materials and media, such as paintings,
etchings, fabrics, lithography, video-clips, sculptures, or even body painting. Simplicity and immediacy
characterise his works, which gain him fans from all over the world.
Keith Haring and Switzerland
Keith Haring visited Switzerland several times, in particular for the Montreux Jazz Festival for which
he designed several posters. His work is displayed in Switzerland during his lifetime and after his death
in several museums and galleries, such as at the Kunstmuseum of Lucerne in 1983, at the Corinne
Hummel Basel Gallery in 1984, in Lausanne at the Galerie Rivolta in 1987, and at the Galerie 57
in Geneva in 1990. In 1991, Hommage à Jean Tinguely is showcased at the Klaus Littmann Gallery
in Bâle. In 1993, the Complete Editions on Paper exhibition takes place in Bâle, and, in 2008, several
sculptures are displayed by UN AIDS.
Historical Context
In his youth, Keith Haring witnessed important moral, sexual, artistic,
scientific, and technological developments. It was an era marked
by the mass standardised consumption growth, the democratisation
of the TV and of the personal computer, the great space conquests,
and even the fight for oppressed minority’s rights.
The 80’s decade was a time of great international tensions.
The Cold War and its impact, and the nuclear threat were ubiquitous.
As regards culture, this decade is enriched by the development
of pop, funk, hip-hop and rap culture. Here are some major figures
of this period: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, James Brown,
or Run DMC.
*Glossary page 9
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Educational
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Artistic Context
Pop Art emerged in the 50’s in Great Britain and at the beginning of the 60’s in U.S. Painting loses
its artistic medium status by excellence and creators begin to become interested in advertisement,
consumer products, and industrialised materials. They celebrate everything that is common and draw
on magazines, comic books, cartoons, and TV. Andy Warhol remains the most famous representative
of Pop Art. He designed serial works, did celebrities’ portraits, worked with musicians, and organised
extravagant parties at the Factory, his workshop in the heart of New York.
Minimal art and conceptual art, which will
develop later on, are based on principles
which are very different from those of Pop
Art. Minimal art is abstract and is extremely
simple. Conceptual art goes further,
removing the work of art, the artist’s work
on concepts and ideas becoming more
important than the final object.
A great admirer of Andy Warhol’s art and
personality, Keith Haring pays him tribute
in several of his works (they designed
together the 20th edition of the Montreux
Jazz Festival in 1986). Haring adopts the
concept and ideas of Pop Art. He also draws on cartoons, comic books, and magazines, but his work is
highly original, personal, and socially committed. His strokes and stick figures are completely innovating
and new, and they flourish on the walls of cities all over the world. Keith Haring’s first posters are similar
to the drawings he made in the subway system, i.e. white on a black background. From 1983, he works
in two different manners: either the surface of the poster is entirely covered by motifs (the “all-over”
technique), or it focuses on one single element, which allows for better legibility.
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At the end of the 70’s, New York is the
cultural capital of the world, and graffiti
begins to take over the public space.
Artists contemporary to Haring are not at
all in favour of the intellectual aspect or the
stiffness of the minimal and conceptual
art. They wish to return to painting,
to the expressiveness of the strokes and
colours. This is the Neo-expressionism,
or the Free Figuration (“la figuration libre”).
Educational
Leaflet
The Four Themes of This Exhibition
The exhibit is structured around four main themes: posters created by Keith
Haring to promote his own exhibitions, advertising posters, posters intended
to promote culture, and posters focused on social issues and causes dear
to the artist’s heart.
Promotion of Exhibitions
Between 1978, his first ever exhibition, and February 1990, Keith Haring
had more than fifty exhibitions. The artist often integrates into his exhibits’
posters a symbol of the city or the country where the event takes place,
thus playfully linking it to one of his emblematic stick figures.
“Fun Gallery 83” is a perfect example of the all-over technique, which consists
in covering the entire surface of the poster with repetitive and intertwining
motifs. The text is moved at the bottom half of the poster, and only
the exhibition year is illustrated in the representation space. The famous
stick figures showing figures intertwine with the ornamental motifs which
surround them; the latters are ubiquitous and, thanks to their shapes,
pay an important role in the dynamics of the composition. Haring uses here
only two colours, which makes that all the motifs are merging and fusing
into each other. It is not the immediate visibility into a promotional message that the artist offers us,
but a play of strokes, movement, and colour.
Advertising
This section showcases the poster which Keith Haring created for various
brands or sports events. The artist has often pushed the boundaries between
art and advertising messages, which is along the lines of his desire to popularise
and democratise art. He therefore ensures the promotion of various products
or events through to a simple but efficient graphic language.
In 1986, he opened his own store, the Pop Shop, where he sold his end
products at low prices, including T-shirts, bags, watches, or even badges.
He turned his works into brand-name products by adding a copyright to
his signature.
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Educational
Leaflet
Culture
This group of posters highlights Keith Haring’s commitment
to cultural events related to theatre, dance, or music. All these
themes echo the artist’s interests. Music, in particular rap that he
constantly listens to, plays an essential role in his designs. In his
compositions, we can see that there are plenty of figures bristling
with energy moving into what seems like breakdancing.
For example, in 1989, he creates the invite to the Chicago Voguer’s
Ball. The main red character is voguing, an 80’s dance style, inspired
by the models’ walk on catwalks.
Haring dedicated himself to young children and adolescents by organising art and painting workshops
all over the world.
The poster he created for the 1984 Walker Art Centre Art Fest is in black and white, so that children
could colour it. It features animals and mythical creatures.
To encourage children to read, he created posters whose slogans read “Fill your Head with Fun! Start
Reading!” (1988), or “Open a Book… and the World Opens” (1989).
Social Issues
And, last but not least, this section showcases posters related to various 80’s major political and social
issues in which Keith Haring is involved in particular by promoting demonstrations or charity events.
In 1982, he creates his first “Poster for Nuclear Disarmament” for a protest against nuclear energy.
He then, at his expense, prints about 20,000 copies which he distributes for free to protesters. This
particular poster is divided into two sections. In the composition’s lower part, the stick figures are armed
with glowing sticks and are ready to fight, while the atomic energy is represented by the symbol of the
atom. In the top part of the poster, his Radiant Baby, Haring’s emblematic signature, is propelled to
Heavens on a cloud, surrounded by angels.
In 1985, he creates the “Free South Africa” poster, taking a stand against the
Apartheid regime in South Africa. Once again, he offers this poster to this
regime’s opponents. In line with his other subway drawings, the colours offer
a striking contrast, and the foot or noose symbols illustrate with great impact
the oppression mechanisms.
We find again the foot symbol in the 1986 “Crack Down” featuring a message
against drug-related harms. Here, the words are framing the drawing, and
are highlighted by the yellow and orange colour schemes. The slogan is an
integral part of the poster.
AIDS is one of the main topics of Keith Haring’s works, and possibly remains
his most personal battle. Knowing he is suffering from this disease, in 1988,
the artist creates powerful and provocative posters to draw attention, to
promote dialogue on this disease and to promote safe sex.
With the 1989 “Ignorance = Fear” poster, he tackles taboos and prejudice associated with this disease.
He highlights how dangerous it is to feign ignorance and to keep silent on this scourge.
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Educational
Leaflet
Glossary
Pierre ALECHINSKY (1927) – Painter and sculpture of Belgian origin,
member of the “Cobra” European group of artists.
Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988) – Graffiti artist and painter of Porto Rican
and Haitian origin, who lived in the United States.
William S. BURROUGHS (1914-1997) – American surrealist novelist,
member of the “Beat Generation” group of writers.
Jean DUBUFFET (1901-1985) – French raw art theorist and painter.
Jackson POLLOCK (1912-1956) – Abstract expressionist painter of U.S. origin.
Tony SHAFRAZI – Gallery owner of American and Iranian origin. He became known
thanks to his stunt in 1974 when he vandalised Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica”.
Kenny SCHARF (1958) - American free figuration painter.
Andy WARHOL (1928-1987) – Painter, ad man and creator of American origin,
one of the most important artists of Pop Art.
Club 57 (70’s and 80’s) – New York disco, which was frequented by several
important artists (Keith Haring, Madonna, Kenny Scharf, or Jean-Michel Basquiat).
Culture Underground: used to describe shows, films, literary works,
avant-garde magazines, created outside of ordinary commercial channels.
Lithography: the process of reproduction by means of printing the drawings
traces with ink or lithographic pencil on a limestone.
Silkscreen Printing: printing technique by pressing ink through a screen
of woven mesh allowing to print on several surfaces.
Semiotics: study of signs and symbols and their interpretation.
Vintage: is an item of previous decades, which was updated or revived.
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For Further Information
The Keith Haring Foundation
www.haring.com
Workshops
Children Website created by Keith Haring Foundation (in English)
www.haringkids.com/index.html
Interactive colouring book on the artist’s symbols (in English)
www.haringkids.com/coloringbook/index.html
Educational video clips for parents and teachers (in English)
www.haringkids.com/lesson_plans
Keith Haring’s posters’ semiotics workshop (from age 14, in English)
www.haringkids.com/lesson_plans/learn/keith-haring-semiotics-poster
Workshop on drawing as symbol (from age 5, in English)
www.haringkids.com/lesson_plans/learn/thinking-about-drawings-as-symbols
Bibliography
LITTMAN, K. (1997). Keith Haring: Editions on paper, 1982-1990, Stuttgart: Cantz.
VON DER OSTEN, C. and GUNDEL, M. (2003). Keith Haring: Short Messages, München: Prestel.
Keith Haring: The Political Line (2013). Beaux Arts Magazine, Hors-série, TTM Editions.
Keith Haring. Dada. La première revue d’art (2013). Paris: éditions Arola, n° 182.
Le petit prince de la rue (2008). Director Christina Clausen, France, Italie: Arte, 90 mn.
Interview pinceau: Keith Haring (1990). Director Dominique Colonna,
producer and announcer Thierry Ardisson, France: Antenne 2, 9.37 mn.
Available at: www.ina.fr/video/I08106890
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Educational
Leaflet
Services Industriels de Genève (SIG)
An important player in the Geneva’s day-to-day well-being, SIG
supplies water, gas, electricity and thermal power. Firmly committed
to sustainability, SIG recycles waste, treats wastewater, and offers
innovative services in telecoms and energy services areas. SIG has
the knowledge and dynamism of our 1'700 employees.
www.sig-ge.ch
Quartier Libre SIG
Quartier Libre is an intergenerational cultural discoveries place.
Located on the Pont de la Machine, Quartier Libre offers varied,
interactive and educational exhibition programs in the areas
of environment, cultural heritage, humanitarian, and art.
Here, SIG articulates its public service mission and its closeness
to the Geneva community by playing its part in the city animation.
The exhibitions which are put up are aligned with its commitment
to enhance heritage, to increase accessibility to culture, and to raise
awareness to social issues.
www.sig-quartierlibre.ch
Impressum
Editorial Staff and Publisher
SIG
Graphic Design
Forchic, Virginie Fürst
Printing
Printed on 100% recycled paper
September 2014
11
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vintage posters

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