Journal: Keith Haring's Automotive Canvasses Are Coming To The Petersen Museum

Keith Haring’s Automotive Canvasses Are Coming To The Petersen Museum

By Benjamin Shahrabani
December 14, 2016

Artist Keith Haring was a key figure in New York’s East Village scene in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. While perhaps best remembered for his cartoonish and vibrant paintings often involving crawling children, barking dogs and dancing figures, all set in motion by staccato-like lines, the graphic pop artist occasionally utilized another type of canvas for some of his work – automobiles.

Available for viewing by the public later this month, a new exhibit curated by the Petersen Automotive Museum, “The Unconventional Canvases of Keith Haring,” will display five vehicles, each covered in the artist’s unique work. “Keith Haring was such an important and loved figure in the art world and we are honored to be able to display such a unique collection of his art,” said Terry Karges, Executive Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum. “We had such a positive response after displaying his Land Rover in our lobby that we knew we had to share the rest of his art cars with our patrons. This new exhibit is a prime example of the Petersen’s mission to merge the worlds of art and automobiles.”

Vehicles on display will include a 1962 SCAF/Mortarini Mini Ferrari 330 P-2, a 1963 Buick Special, a 1971 Land Rover Series III 109 Station Wagon, 1987 Honda CBR1000F Hurricane motorcycle and a 1991 BMW Z1. The exhibit will run through Sunday, June 4th, 2017 and will be located in the Armand Hammer Foundation Gallery on the first floor of the museum.

A reception is to be held on Thursday, December 15th, and will be open to the public. Tickets can be purchased at http://petersen.org/art/

Photo courtesy of Galerie Hans Mayer, Düsseldorf / Christian Rossier / Kevin Krich / Keith Haring Foundation / Elinor Vernhes / Hervé Perdriolle / Keith Haring artwork © Keith Haring Foundation

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Mr. Mercury
Mr. Mercury
7 years ago

It’s not art, it is graffiti. Distasteful and a waste of paint.

JB21
JB21
7 years ago
Reply to  Mr. Mercury

And that’s how we go into the investigation of the nature of art… Why isn’t graffiti art, that sort of things.

Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
7 years ago

On these I’m errr … conflicted . On one hand they’re kind of silly … but on the other they’re kind of cool … though hardly qualifying as ‘ Art ‘ in my opinion … being more graphic design than anything so much as resembling ‘ Art ‘ . Hmmmm … Tis times like this I truly bemoan the passing of Robert Hughes … now that we need the likes of him more than ever …

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