samo for the so-called avant-garde

Nothing is important…so everything is important.

--keith haring

clarissa!! keith haring tee!! i love the 90s.

(Source: shittydj)

christmas is coming…

i’ve compiled a list of 10 cool gift ideas and whatnot! some cheap, and some more expensive. enjoy.

1.Andy Warhol’s Holiday Dog Card Set. ($14 from fred flare)

2. The Keith Haring Coloring Book ($6.95 from Amazon)

3. BASQUIAT - retrospective with 160 color reproductions.($65 from Marc Jacobs)

4. Various Andy Warhol Perfumes ($55-$230 from Bond No. 9 NY)

5. Haring and Basquiat perfumed candles ($38-$48 from lollipop shoppe)

6. A Coloring Book: Drawings by Andy Warhol ($13 from Amazon)

7.Vintage Keith Haring vinyl blow-up pillows from his Pop Shop ($30 from Etsy)

8. Basquiat Nail Art set ($40 from Etsy)

9. Warhol “Famous” (Set of 9) Magnets ($12 from the Warhol Store)

10. Haring iPhone 4/4s cases ($25 from case-scenario)

Update on the Keith Haring Melbourne Mural:

via (The Sydney Morning Herald)

“…The Victorian government, through Arts Victoria, has commissioned a conservation management plan that proposes spending $1 million to stabilise the mural in its current dilapidated state - to preserve it as is.

Supported by the Arts Minister, Premier Ted Baillieu, this plan directly contravenes the stated wishes of the Keith Haring Foundation, established by the artist before his death to represent his interests. The foundation has publicly requested that a suitably qualified professional signwriter repaint the original image in consultation with an arts conservator to ensure quality control.

The foundation’s view is consistent with the treatment of other Haring murals around the world. There are no other public Haring murals where remnants have been conserved rather than repainted.

Where the artist and his representative have clearly stated their wishes for the future care of the mural, what entitles the Victorian government to overturn these wishes by claiming conservation is the only correct course? The position of the Keith Haring Foundation is supported by a series of letters sent to Arts Victoria during the drafting of the management plan. These letters, from, among others, art historian Terry Smith, Australian Centre of Contemporary Art director Juliana Engberg and Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, urged that the moral rights of the artist be upheld in any decision about the restoration of his work.

Their letters were ignored. Instead, Arts Victoria sought the advice of art conservators who seek to preserve the mural as though it were an archaeological relic. What the government is failing to see is that Haring’s mural is at heart a graphic work intended to be widely accessible. It is the originality and visibility of the image that is primary and precious, not the touch of the artist’s hand.

The conservators in question have rolled their eyes at the idea of repainting in order to uphold the artist’s wishes. Their response is in equal parts disrespectful, pompous, outdated and patriarchal. Thankfully not all conservation experts share the same view. American specialist Jane Norman, a recent guest speaker at the University of Melbourne, identified as foremost the need to understand and preserve the ideas intrinsic to an artwork rather than the work’s surface character.

The right course for the Haring mural is for it to be repainted and returned to its intended vitality. Document the work as it exists now - digitally archive its history in a way that makes it accessible to all. The rest of the money should be spent stabilising the wall and repainting.”

click the link at the top to read the full article

if you’re in NY, go to the MoMA and check out this 60-ft long keith haring drawing!!!

Keith Haring Doodle Ceiling Revived at New York Historical Society

“The New York Historical Society is closing out a three-year, multimillion dollar renovation with an awesome finishing touch: Keith Haring’s “Doodle Ceiling” [Update/correction 11/12: Julia Gruen from the NYHS got in touch to say that it’s actually untitled] from 1986, which used to be displayed in his Pop Shop. The Society is re-opening today at its Central Park West location.

The Pop Shop closed in 2005, but the interior was covered in Haring’s signature line drawings as shown in the pic above; the ceiling was preserved post-closing. Here’s a photo of what the ceiling will look like at the NYHS: