Keith Haring 1978-1982

I'm really glad I made it to the Keith Haring show at the Brooklyn Museum. This small, focused exhibition examined his work from 1978-1982, with an emphasis on his street and subway art.

His work is so bold and exuberant, so iconic, flamboyant, and immediately recognizable. Because of the focus on this period, and an entire room devoted to white chalked drawings on blackened subway poster areas, there was a lack of color to this show, and it did not fully capture the explosive energy of his work that a full retrospective might have.

One thing that I really enjoyed, this exhibition completely brought me back to NYC in the early 80s. I could FEEL the city, what it was like back then. It was a special time, a special creative moment, and in that way it made sense to focus on those four years of his work.