Keith Haring

• He was born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania.
• He developed a love for art at an early age and had his father teach him basic cartooning skills.
• He graduated from high school on 1978 and enrolled in the Ivy school of professional art in Pittsburgh, which he then later dropped out because he decided he didn’t want to become a commercial graphic artist.
• Later that year, he had an exhibit of his artwork at the Pittsburgh arts & crafts center. Pittsburg was where he took notice of artist that did similar drawings like his. These artists were doing similar figures and shapes. Artists such as Dubuffet and Pierre Alechinsky had similar images in Haring’s art. 
• Later that same year of 1978, he moved to NY where he met a couple of artists that inspired and helped him throughout his career. Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat is who he was mostly close with.
• Between 1980 and 1989, Haring achieved international recognition and participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions. His first solo exhibition in NY was held at the Westbeth Painters Space in 1981.
• Around the year 1988 was when he was first was diagnosed with AIDS related illnesses. At the age of 31, Haring died of AIDS on February 16, 1990.
• In 1989, he established the Keith Haring Foundation to raise funds to the AIDS organizations and children's hospitals.

One of his most famous pieces is the “Radiant Baby”. You will see this in most of his artwork. The “Radiant Baby” signifies Jesus Christ and this was brought up by his influence in the Jesus Movement 

in the 1970s.  

  

New york city in 1978 was at the peak of graffiti art. When Haring moved here, immediately he was intrigued and fascinated with Graffiti. He wanted a way to connect his art with the people. He wanted people to have something to look at and have a connection with. Later the subway became a media thing and Haring was associated with New York and the hip-hop scene. Often he would do thirty to forty of these drawings in one day. These were his first recognized pieces of pop art.

Architecture

Theres two architectures that caught me with fascination in Ch.13.

The first one is by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house he made in Pennsylvania is beautiful! First of all, I was shocked to see this house because it looks so modern that I thought It was made recently but it turns out that it was built in 1939! I am amazed at how he built something so complex. The waterfall gives it a touch of serenity to the house and the environment. Wright did this because he stuck to two basic principles which is a house should blend with its environment and the interior and exterior of the house should be visually and physically integrated. This piece of architecture is famous worldwide. The uniquely made cantilevers of the house is remarkable. The interior of "falling water" was also designed by Wright so that the people can admire not only the outside but the inside too. This is an important piece for architects today because it inspires new ideas. This house is perfect. No more words.

The second piece of architecture is by Fox and Fowle. This piece is called Four Times Square and its located in NYC. This building is known as the largest building in the US to establish standards for energy conservation. Like the barn library building by Langston Hughes, this building is also an example of green thinking on a much larger scale. I like this idea of green thinking when it comes to architecture. To recycle waste and reuse not only helps the environment but, it also helps us live a better life. This building uses natural gas which is far cleaner than either coal or oil along with other clean, green materials. This building does not use any harmful gases that screw up the ozone layer which I think is what every building should do. Hopefully, new architects have this in mind. 

Thoughts & concerns

So, I thought blogging was going to be fun and easy to do but, lately I have been lagging on it. Honestly, I thought we were going to be drawing and painting in this class but, unfortunately we don't. It's just different for me because I thought art class was hands-on. It's just another different way of learning art I guess. And the book is so boring to read! Anyway, enough of about that. As much as I don't like this, I'll try keeping up with the chapters. I like how the class goes, don't get me wrong, its just the blogging I'm disliking right now. It's not a regular thing for me to "remember" to blog. I keep forgetting about it. Are any of you experiencing this? BTW, theres not Chapter 23 in my book.....?

A night with no electricity

My night with no electricity was a cool experience. I chilled in my backyard with my bf and luckily that night was a clear night sky so we gazed up at the stars. It felt nice because everyday, we are always caught up with our busy lives and this helped de-stress my mind. This not only helps me, but it also helps the environment. Having the light turned off and not using any electronics is hard for some people because some of them, can't live without it. I thought it was pretty easy. Its only for one night. I dont know if I'll be able to do it if it were every night. We aren't able to live without light or electronics anyway because we sometimes need it for homework, work, and for almost everything. I would definitely do this again. I'm actually thinking about having to do this at least once a week. I think everyone should.  :)

Picasso vs. Bourgeois

Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911. She was very well educated and helped out her parents draw missing parts for their antique tapestries. It seems like she was wealthy because she went to a prestigious art school in France. She was dissatisfied with official art education and led her to explore a different path towards art. After she got married, she moved to New York. Her trip to America helped her discover that she was an artist.  Her past troubled her thoughts sometimes.During her childhood, her father had an affair and her mother put up with it. Bourgeois was depressed at times, but her sculptures helped her to cope through it.  Her art is what she used to get her emotions out.

Picasso was the son of a painter who taught drawing. So, Picasso's art was always admired He became very smart and mastered his techniques in art while still a teenager. His move from Barcelona to Paris motivated him to try a new direction in art. Picasso was part of a generation of artists and his art, along with others, helped open up a new territory for western art to explore. His art work "Seated Woman Holding a Fan" was known as cubism. Cubism is a form in painting. Art was changing all around him and he knew it was because of "photography". At that time, photography was a new invention and he took that for granted. Some people thought that photography will be the new "painting" and painting would be forgotten. But, Picasso didn't think so. He considered photography a new form of art.

The artist who stood out the most for me will be Bourgeois because her story could relate to a lot of other artists and self-artists. Some people find art as a way to take their mind off of things. And I think that is something I would like to create someday. Art can make a person feel liberated or accomplished and much more. If, a person has a fear, that person can put that fear in their art and by the end of the day you can decide whether you want to, like Bourgeois said "hack away at it" then so be it. I know it'll make that person feel way better! AND You would be surprised at what you can make.

Reality & Art

This week's lecture has got me thinking.....what is reality? When I think of reality, I think of what I'm doing this very moment. I always thought reality is what we see, what we feel, what we smell. But, in class, when students shared their ideas of reality, it really got me thinking. Some say, reality can even be in our dreams? Never alone, have I thought about that one. Of course everyone is going to have a different opinion on this one. Theres no right or wrong. I say reality means a lot of different things to people. Dreams can't be reality, but I believe that you can make them to be. Like say, if you dream about something you wish to become, it can really turn into reality if you put your mind, time and effort to get there.

As for the cave paintings; I really wish there was no microorganisms because then humans going in and out of the cave won't have to worry that someday the cave will be in ruins.  Just so I can look up at it someday and say "lets go visit that one cave" because I think it would be so cool to experience that. But, with life being full of imperfections, of course we have to have microorganisms. I think the disney version of cave #2 is pretty lame. I'm not so interested in visiting someday. Knowing that there was once cool caves such as the one Glenn was talking about, makes me curious to wonder about other caves that has not been discovered yet. I just wish caves could stay intact forever so people can have the chance to experience that.

How are art and reality related? Can one imagine art? One can imagine art and put that on a canvas. Imagination can be an inspiration or even motivation to go to the direction your imagining of. What you imagine is like a thought. It makes you think and what makes you think can then be moved onto a canvas. So, what is reality? That really depends on the person. Each individual will have a different answer. Reality to me, is what YOU put on to that canvas or any other form of art.

Banksy

This summer, my boyfriend got me into street art. We went to MOCA to check out their "Art in the Streets" exhibit. The exhibit that got my attention was Banksy's. Banksy is a street artist in the UK and his art work is really interesting. So, I thought I should share his art work. Most of it has caused a lot controversy like the pic I have shown above. This guy is pretty ballsy to put up his art in places where he could really get caught. Looks to me like, he's trying to send a message out there. What do you think? Check him out!