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Untitled

Artist/Maker (American, 1958–1990)
Date1982–83
MediumChalk on black paper
DimensionsOverall: 35 1/2 × 45 in. (90.2 × 114.3 cm)
Frame: 48 × 57 × 2 in. (121.9 × 144.8 × 5.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Rick Kantor (OC 1975) in honor of Minerva Durham's Drawing Class
Edition96/100
Object number2021.31.2
Status
On view
Copyright© The Keith Haring FoundationMore Information
Between 1980 and 1985 Haring created thousands of drawings in New York City subway stations on the black paper within vacant advertisement frames—inserting art into spaces reserved for commercial messaging. This chalk drawing comes not from an actual subway station but from a demonstration Haring gave based on these works for a class at Parsons School of Design.

Although the decapitated figure here could be understood in relation to AIDS-related deaths, including Haring’s own, he made this and the other works in this gallery prior to his 1988 HIV diagnosis. Although it may not respond explicitly to HIV/AIDS, this drawing nonetheless registers a sense of peril and vulnerability in queer bodies.
Exhibition History
The Body, The Host: HIV / AIDS and Christianity
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 20, 2024 - December 15, 2024 )
Collections
  • Modern & Contemporary
  • On View