Pop Trash

Look what my friend Tim spotted today in the city!

Longtime New Yorkers may recall this isn’t Keith Haring’s first collaboration with the NYC Department of Sanitation.

In 1984, DSNY commissioned the Pop artist to develop artwork for its anti-litter campaign -- which featured a "litter pig" logo, designed by Haring to promote responsible waste disposal.  

UPDATE:

Keith Haring in Heat Magazine (1992)

Indoorsy

I would totally buy one of these ... if I ever had the desire to spend time outside.

Related: Eight places to see art by Keith Haring in New York City

Why NYC Is a Keith Haring Museum

Several friends shared this sweet 1983 photo of Keith Haring -- who died of complications of AIDS 33 years ago today -- on Valentine's Day, which got me thinking about all the works you can see by the late artist around New York City. Continue BELOW.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

With the holiday season just around the corner, what better time for Turntable Lab to release limited-edition Keith Haring t-shirts and slip-mats? Shop HERE.

Remembering Keith Haring

The artist would have been 58 this year. See him in action HERE.

Mapplethorpe Pop-Up Installation in NYC This Friday and Saturday

To celebrate the upcoming release of HBO's "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures," a pop-up exhibition of his work will be launched this weekend in New York City that looks like it's going to be really cool. Details HERE. : 

Happy Birthday to Dolly Parton!

She truly is a national treasure. 

Paint and Paint

There's a new exhibition of Keith Haring paintings on display now through June 14 here in New York City that looks worth checking out. (The Brooklyn Museum had a great show in 2012.that featured all types of his works.) Visit the Gladstone Gallery's site for details HERE.

Keith Haring Retrospective 'The Political Line' Opens at Musee D'Art Moderne

The recent exhibit at the Brooklyn Art Museum was certainly worthwhile. Learn more about the MAM show HERE.

Photo of the Day

Tomorrow would have been Keith Haring's 54th birthday. (How sad that he died in 1990 at just 31.) Read about my trip to the delightful Haring exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum HERE.

Exit Through the Pop Shop

Michael and I made a rare appearance in the (718) over the weekend, schlepping out to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Keith Haring exhibit.

While I'm hardly a Haringphile, it is a fun show -- the largest-scale exhibition to date focusing on his work between 1978 and 1982, although I did see a Christmas chalk drawing that said "Still Alive in '85" mixed in, which looked suspiciously like the cover art of the Special Olympics benefit album "A Very Special Christmas."

In addition to a dozen paintings and large felt-tip pen drawings, there are some 300 archival objects, including rarely seen sketchbooks, Polaroids, journals, exhibition flyers, posters, subway drawings and documentary photographs.

By far my favorite part of the exhibition is the room with a slide show of photographs of chalk subway drawings in their natural habitat. With Blondie's "Love at the Pier," the Waitresses' "I Know What Boys Like," Devo's "Come Back, Jonee," Human Sexual Response's "Jackie Onassis" and the impossibly rare "Little GTO" (also Blondie) blaring -- playlist supplied by DJ Scott Ewalt, my future BFF -- it's like being transported back in time seeing Haring's work on the walls of subway stations around the city surrounded by the people and the advertisements of the 1980s -- lots of mustaches, skinny ties and turkey-roasting paraphernalia

My other favorite part, of course, are the cut-and-paste New York Post headlines, featuring this classic (above), plus “Reagan Slain by Hero Cop” and “Pope Killed for Freed Hostage.” When you exit through the gift shop, you'll find yourself in a pop-up Pop Shop, which pays homage to the Soho retail store that sold Haring merchandise until 2005. Even if you're not a huge fan, the show is definitely worth a look. You'll see Haring's work in lots of artists today -- from Banksy to Scooter LaForge -- but more importantly, you'll probably leave with a smile on your face.

Pop Stop

The "Keith Haring: 1978-1982" exhibit going on through July 8 at the Brooklyn Museum sounds fun enough to get my ass outta Manhattan. Read Karen Rosenberg's write-up in the New York Times HERE.

And if you haven't seen the documentary "The Universe of Keith Haring," I recommend you check it out. Netflix is streaming it now.

Datebook

Cannot wait for the opening of "The Universe of Keith Haring" tomorrow night at Cinema Village. With interviews and archival footage of Grace Jones, Fab 5 Freddy, Ann Magnuson, Madonna, Yoko Ono, David LaChappelle, Kenny Scharf, Andy Warhol et al., the film promises to be the ultimate look inside the life and death of one of the 20th century's most recognizable artists. For ticket information, click HERE.

Watch the film's trailer below: