The Universe of Keith Haring: Keith Haring, Fred Brathwaite, Yoko Ono, Hans Mayer, Christina Clausen: Movies & TV

Mar24

The Universe of Keith Haring: Keith Haring, Fred Brathwaite, Yoko Ono, Hans Mayer, Christina Clausen: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 24 March, 09:37 PM

Product Description
Studio: Arts Alliance America Release Date: 02/10/2009 Run time: 90 minutes

intensely entertaining, wonderfully revealing ,

By John Frame (Brisbane, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews

My first awareness of the art of Keith Haring was in the 1986 video for the Grace Jones song “I’m Not Perfect”. In stop action we witness Keith creating a perfect huge circular mural on the blank fabric of Grace’s dress. We don’t see that particular piece in “The Universe of Keith Haring”, but we do get an amazing detailed insight into the creative and personal life of a true genius. For Keith the personal was certainly political - his honesty regarding his homosexuality was integral to his work. Lives have been saved (from HIV and homophobia) and the world made a better place because of this.

We learn that Keith was a basically nice guy, but he was determined to fully enjoy his life day by day. He didn’t give a tinker’s cuss for whoever might already have romantic links to the object of his desire.

“The Universe Of Keith Haring” screened at the Brisbane Queer Film Festival 2008 and I was immediately convinced by the Spanish subtitled preview DVD that this is a film that I had to own (with subtitles only as an option). This film ranks among top ten LGBT/Queer documentaries. For others it will rate highly purely for the revelation of Keith’s unique aristic vision, his skills, his extraordinary productivity - and his globally significant legacy.

A Portrait of the Artist,

By Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews

“The Universe of Keith Haring”

A Portrait of the Artist

Amos Lassen

Keith Haring was one of the most influential artists in the world of Pop Art and this documentary takes a look at his life and his work. He had a large and extensive body of work which ranged from painting and sculpture to subway murals and he still remains an important influence today. Haring began drawing with his father in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, his home town. He then moved on to the School for Visual Arts in New York City and this led to his place in the Pop Art community. Haring was a revolutionary and a style setter. His life as presented to us by director Christina Clausen was ordinary but his mentor, Andy Warhol, obsessed over him. We watch as his career moves rapidly but his life ended early at the age of 31. Even though he was with us for such a short time, he was well known not only by the art world but by the man on the street as well. Even though the film does not tell us why he was so popular we can see it through his optimistic work Yoko Ono says that Haring’s art may have looked to be without meaning that it was indeed replete with meaning.
In the movie are interviews with Haring’s family, friends and fellow artists and friend and fellow artist Kenny Scharf tells us about Haring’s last days as he was succumbing to AIDS. There is also some rare footage of Haring addressing galleries and we can see the creativity in the man. The film entertains throughout and it moves and rewards us simultaneously. We learn that Haring never sketched first and that he was genius at what he did. Here is one extraordinary man who not only realized his full potential but also knew how to live and love. He was voluminous in output as he was in love.
Was he a great artist? That is a question to be debated. What Haring was it seems is the right person at the right place at the right time and he had a lot of energy and enthusiasm. He was a social phenomenon who was able to bridge gaps–hip hop to gay culture, Madonna to museum culture and the street world to the art world. This is a loving look at the man, his work and his legacy.Search Amazon.com: The Universe of Keith Haring: Keith Haring, Fred Brathwaite, Yoko Ono, Hans Mayer, Christina Clausen: Movies & TV from AmAzon

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