1958 Born May 4 in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
1976-78 Moved to Pittsburgh. Briefly studied at a commercial art school. Saw a
retrospective of Pierre Alechinsky's paintings at the Carnegie Museum. Had first
solo show of abstract drawings at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
1978-79 Moved to New York City and studied at the School of Visual of Art.
Painted on lagre-scale photo backdrop paper in a street-level studio on Twenty-Second Street where
he enjoyed the comments of passers-by. Videotaped the painting process.
1980 Organized exhibitions and preformed at Club 57, in the basement of a
church at 57 Saint Mark's Place. Partiticpated in the Times Square Show, an important exhibition of
new art held in New York City. Made the first drawing with flying saucers, animals and human
images that recur in the subway drawings.
1981 Made the first white chalk drawings on the black paper pasted over
expired advertisement in New York City's subway stations. Painted on plastic, metal found objects,
and garden statuary. Curated exhibitions of drawings and graffiti art at the Mudd Club. Solo show
at Club 57. Participated in the New York/New Wave show in New York City. Painted first
mural in a school-yard on the Lower East Side. Met the graffiti artist L.A. II (Angel Oritz)
1982 Collaborated with L.A. II. Began painting on tarpaulins. First solo
gallery exhibition at Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York City. Participated in
Documenta 7 in Kassel, West Germany. Drew a thirty-second animation for the
Spectacolor Billoard in Times Square which ran continuously for a month.
1983 Participated in the Whitney Biennal and the Sao Paolo Bienal. Showed
collaborations with with graffiti artist LA11 at Fun Gallery, New York City,
Robert Fraser Gallery, London and Galary Watary, Tokyo. Second exhibition
at at Tony Shafrazi Gallery. Met Andy Warhol.
1984 Painted murals in Melbourne, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Dobbs,
Ferry, Minneapolis and Manhattan. Created sixty-second animated commercial
for BIG, a store in Zurich, Zwitzerland.
1985 Began painting on canvas. Simultaneously exhibited paintings
at Tony Shafrazi Gallery and brightly painted sculptures at Leo Castelli
Gallery, New York City. Solo Exhibition at the Musee d'Art Contemporain,
Bordeaux. Participated in the Paris Biennial. Designed sets for
'Sweet Saturday Night', Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York and 'The
Mariage of heaven and hell' for the Ballet National de Marseille, France.
Painted 7.5 x 9.5 m backdrop for the Palladium, New York City. Printed and
distributed 20,000 Free South-Africa posters. Designed four watches for
Swatch Watch USA.
1986 Stopped doing subway drawings. Solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum,
Amsterdam.Three large scaled sculptures installed at the Hammerskjold Plaza,
New YorkCity. Opened 'The Pop Shop', a store selling Haring products and
multiples. Painted the 'Crack is wack' mural as well as outdoor murals on
the Berlin Wall; Amsterdam,Paris and Phoenix, Arizona.
Body-painted Grace Jones for her video 'I'm not perfect'. Collaborated with
Brian Gysin on 'Fault Lines' and Jenny Holzer on billboards for Vienna
Festival '86.
1987 Solo shows in Helsinki, Antwerp and Knokke, Belgium.
Show painted steel mask and paintings on canvas at Tony Shafrazi Gallery.
Participated in Art Agains AIDS, a benefit exhibitions curated by Steven
Reichard. Painted murals in Brussel, Paris, New York and Knokke. Designed
street signs for Tokyo.
1988 Opened the Pop Shop in Shop in Tokyo. Painted murals in Chicago and
Atlanta with childeren and conducted workshops. Painted Easter at the White House mural erected on
the White House lawn, then donated to the Children's Hospital, Washington, D.C. Painted
mural at FDR Drive and Houston Street in Manhattan. Shawed at the Hans Mayer Gallery, Düsseldorf,
and Tony Shafrazi Gallery.
1989 Engaged in widespread campaign for AIDS awareness. Painted murals in
Monaco, Chicago, New York, Iowa City, and on the exterior wall of a monastery in Pisa.
Established the Keith Haring Foundantion, a charitable organization seeking to contribute to a wide range
of social concerns. Showed at Gallery 121, Antwerp.
1990 Died of AIDS on February 16.