Keith Haring and Pride

            This past month, I attended Pride for the first time with two of my close friends. The morning of the parade, my friend, Xavier, spontaneously painted common symbols used by Keith Haring on his overalls. Somehow, out of all of the wonderful queer artists out there, Keith Haring seemed so fitting for Pride. 

           It wasn’t until I was at Pride itself when I realized the fundamental meaning of the Pride movement. I met up with some of my other friends from Stanford. All kinds of people were there– lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, nonbinary, transgender, asexual, men, women, nonbinary people, children, adults, teenagers. Everyone was dancing. People were wearing the most eccentric, flamboyant, vibrant outfits. It was absolutely the opposite of how you’re “supposed” to appear in public. People were dancing, singing, yelling. Anywhere else, this kind of behavior would garner judgment and stares. But here, I felt like I could do whatever I wanted, and no one would judge me. 

After going to Pride, I don’t think of Pride as a purely “gay” movement anymore. When I think of Pride, I think of challenging power structures by discarding what you’re “supposed” to do and embracing what you enjoy. I think this is why the movement is continuously expanding to include more identities. Keith Haring’s art precisely embodies this. 

Haring was famous for his fun art. His art featured simple, cartoon-like figures and symbols. His work was famous for its vibrant coloring and use of dots and lines to convey movement and sound. Having risen to fame through his subway art, his work was for the masses to admire. 

Despite his massive success, Haring was criticized by the pretentious, who argued his work was not “high art.” Time’s Robert Hughes criticized Haring’s arts’ simplistic nature, caricaturing him as “Keith Boring.” Newsweek’s Mark Stevens referred to his art as “fast food,” as it was “a good time… But great? No.” 

But what determines whether or not something is “great” art? It turns out, the criteria for what separates Haring’s art from “great” art is meant to uphold the inaccessibility of art. It is true– Haring's art is simple, accessible, and bright. It was for the masses. And this is particularly why it wasn’t considered high art. 

Despite the very nature of art being raw human expression, the art world is elitist. For centuries, the art world has maintained criteria that art must be complex, incomprehensible, and inaccessible. In order to be considered high art, artwork must not be so accessible and easily understood. 

Perhaps there is an appeal to “high art.” There is joy in excavating a deeper, personal meaning from a work of art. But why should we deny ourselves of the pleasures of “low art”? I put these in quotation marks because, if they both may bring us joy, what is “high”, and what is “low?” Perhaps, the term is not indicative of the quality of the art, but rather, its exclusivity. Unfortunately, in our society, exclusivity determines a work’s value in all fields. Only nonconformists like Haring can free us of this restraint.

One of Haring’s signature symbols was Radiant Baby. It was a small person on their hands and knees. Haring drew inspiration from young children in his art, as they have not  Haring captured this perfectly in his journal:

“Children are the bearers of life in its simplest and most joyous form. Children are color-blind and still free of all the complications, greed, and hatred that will slowly be instilled in them through life.”

Keith Haring (2010). “Keith Haring Journals: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)”, p.130, Penguin

Children fueled much of Haring’s refusal to conform to conventional standards of high art. Children find enjoyment in things without the boundaries of what society considers “good” or “bad.” 

But as we grow older in this capitalist world, we realize that we must do things for a grade, for money, for a paying job. Our true, authentic desires become tainted by value, demand, and profitability 

Conforming to what is “good” caters to the dominant culture– the rich, white, heterosexual, cisgender male. Not only does this maintain inequality, but it deprives us of pleasures just because they diverge from the norm. Assertions of what is “high” or “low” or “good” or “bad” are meant to limit us. In order to uphold power dynamics, we are meant to shy away from the feminine, the ethnic, the homosexual, the primal, the colorful, the childish. But this prevents us from tapping into something we can potentially enjoy. 

Haring is the epitome of indulging in forbidden joys. Haring discarded conventional notions of “good” art and pursued the art style that brought him joy.His career embodies living life to the fullest. 

Arguably, this is  what the queer experience is. Queer people often from a young age know that they are different. They understand that their attraction to others places them outside of the dominant culture. Naturally, they can more readily reject the societal norms of what is “good” and “bad.” Pride encourages indulging in human expression that was denied to us. As such, the Pride movement has something to offer to us all.