Keith Haring

Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s by expressing concepts of birth, death, sexuality, and war.


 * "There is too much to explain to put in writing: my first LSD experience at 15 and consequent trips in the fields surrounding the small town where I grew up in Pennsylvania. The drawing I did during the first trip became the seed for all of the work that followed and that now has developed into an entire "aesthetic" view of the world (and system of working).


 * "The effect that the re-programming had on my life at 16-17-18, which made me find new friends, leave Kutztown, see "God" and find myself (with complete confidence) inside myself and believe in this idea of "chance," change and destiny."
 * -Keith Haring Journals


 * "Keith Haring, one of the most celebrated artists of the 1980s, credited LSD with stylistic breakthroughs that brought him to his own unique work."
 * - Alex Grey in his article The Creative Process and Entheogens in his book The Mission of Art - http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v10n3/10309gre.html


 * "I do admire artists like R. Crumb and Keith Haring who admitted they used LSD and that it was critical in the development of their own style."
 * - Alex Grey in his article St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolution - http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v16n2/st_albert.pdf