‘Keith Haring: Street Art Boy’ Premiering on PBS American Masters: TRAILER
In the week when we marked World AIDS Day, how profoundly appropriate that the PBS Series, American Masters is premiering a new documentary about gay pop artist, Keith Haring who took the art world by storm forever changing it before dying of AIDS at the age of 31.
On Friday, December 4th Keith Haring: Street Art Boy debuts across PBS platforms.
“Art is for everyone.” – Keith Haring
Decades before identity politics, or social warriors, being woke were trending, Keith Haring was all those with an artist’s voice and an international platform. Much of the accessibility of his work can be attributed to his figured having no age, race, or identity. They are simply human beings. Haring’s art also reflected his acute social awareness of global issues like sexuality, Apartheid, the crack epidemic, AIDS and the need for safe sex.
Keith Haring: Street Art Boy is described on PBS.com like this.
“International art sensation Keith Haring blazed a trail through the legendary art scene of 1980s New York and revolutionized the worlds of pop culture and fine art. This fascinating and compelling film – told using previously unheard interviews that form the narrative of the documentary – is the definitive story of the artist in his own words. The film also includes exclusive, unprecedented access to the Haring Foundation’s archives, capturing the wild, creative energy behind some of the most recognizable art of the past fifty years. Following Keith Haring’s diagnosis with AIDS in 1989, he asked writer and art critic John Gruen to write his biography. For five days in the summer of 1989, Keith gave Gruen in intimate and candid detail the story of his life and these interviews are included in the film. Haring’s closest friends, family and collaborators – from the sleepy Pennsylvania of his youth to the mythic clubs of gay New York – share their revelatory encounters, touching poignantly on the AIDS crisis, which made a tragic icon of this life-affirming artist.”
Keith Haring: Street Art Boy premieres December 4th (check local listings) and streaming at pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS Video app
“10 lesser-known facts about Keith Haring”
