Keith Haring in Budapest

Sam Havadtoy, the president of the circle “Friends of the Ludwig Museum,” lived in New York for 20 years, and was a close friend of Keith Haring.  He is also a dear friend of mine. When Sam decided to move back to Budapest, he was keen to bring the legacy of Keith Haring with him. The Ludwig Museum was a good choice for us, as it is a beautiful space, and has all the necessary infrastructure and international standards for such an exhibition.

We decided together with the curator on which works to exhibit. A special feature of this exhibition is a new documentary on Keith Haring that will add a very important dimension. When you go to the museum you will see Haring’s artwork, and there is a lot of information about the artist, but actually seeing him, hearing him, and watching him work immeasurably adds to the experience.

It is a challenge. One thing that most people don’t know about Keith Haring is that he always strived to be a fine artist and was never satisfied with only doing street art. He wanted his work to be seen in galleries and museums, but he would never stop making public work. His idea was to synthesize the impulse of street art and graffiti, and combine it with fine art. In the early 80’s there was quite a movement around street art and graffiti, and Haring had a vital role in this movement, but we see now, all these years later, that not many artists made the successful leap into galleries and museums. Keith was born in 1958 and he died in 1990. So he had a very short life and a very intense, brief career.

The challenge is to create an opportunity for the public to discover more about Keith Haring, because as you said, there is an aspect of his work, which is very popular. People know him from reproductions of his art on t-shirts and merchandise. But when you come and see this exhibition, you will realize that there is a lot more to Keith Haring than only this popular aspect. A lot of people are surprised when they see pieces that are violent or works that have a lot of sexual content next to his more familiar child-friendly and colorful work. But Keith Haring is most interesting and must be understood as a whole, and in this exhibition you can see the genesis and evolution of his complete visual vocabulary. A lot of people have criticized Haring’s work as being flat and two dimensional, but there is a great deal underneath the surface.

One of the most remarkable things about Haring was that despite his young age he cared so actively for others. He was always giving. He really felt passionate about helping people. The more demanding his work became after he became famous, the more he helped others. When he set up his foundation, his goal was for it to continue his charity work, to donate money or artwork for the benefit of educational institutions and to continue in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

With this exhibition, we hope to engage and inspire young street artists and graffiti artists from Budapest and Hungary. Keith never travelled to Central Europe, and one of the most exciting parts of my work is introducing Keith Haring in places such as Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and China.  As Keith’s studio manager for 6 years, and director of his Foundation for another 18 years, I find myself a living conduit to the artist. Overseeing our Foundation’s philanthropic efforts is a great privilege. Introducing Haring’s work, speaking about the man and his life, and interacting with new audiences is my greatest reward.