The Thousands

There are a dozen ‘art’-shops-for-a-dime where you’ll find wonky approximations of New York artist Keith Haring‘s signature ‘Radiant Baby’ silhouettes and black-and-white line work. What made this influential 1980s art star’s ostensibly simple paintings so much better than any lame rip-offs? Christina Clausen’s biodoc leaves audiences to figure that one out for themselves.

Instead, the film celebrates New York’s much-celebrated 70s and 80s underground culture. Haring’s ‘universe’ encompassed collaboration with musicians and dancers, nightclubbing and many public murals. There are interviews and archival footage of Haring’s family and friends, who included Madonna, Junior Vasquez, David LaChapelle, Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono.**I found myself musing sadly on what Haring might have produced, had he not died of AIDS in 1990 at just 31. He comes across as lovely and generous – the kind of guy you wish was your friend. The best scenes show him painting in bold, assured lines, without preliminary sketches, never making mistakes. Here was a truly exceptional talent that seems easy to copy, but is impossible to match.