Keith haring. between art, activism and fashion

15 years after Keith Haring’s first exhibition in Portugal, State of the Art brought the work of the American artist and activist back, for a solo exhibition, called “Keith Haring. Between art, activism and fashion”. The exhibition, which took place at CascaiShopping between September 10 and November 10, 2019, featured 17 original works from Haring’s most creative phase. Considered one of the most emblematic figures of the New York art scene of the 1980s, the exhibition also included original fashion designs, inspired by Haring’s work, as well as a replica of the emblematic jacket worn by Madonna at Haring’s birthday party, at Paradise Garage, on May 16, 1984, where she sang “Dress you up”.

The inauguration was marked by a live body painting performance with model Sharam Diniz and illustrator Susana de Oliveira, in homage to the performance that Keith Haring performed with supermodel and singer Grace Jones in New York in 1987. The performance was accompanied by dancer Lukanu Mpasy, also covered in patterns inspired by the art of Keith Haring.

As part of a partnership with CP – Comboios de Portugal and Infraestruturas de Portugal, the exhibition took to the street and transformed the Cascias train station into an art gallery full of Haring’s iconic symbols, adapted by Susana de Oliveira. Apart from the train station, we invited street artist Akacorleone to transform a train carriage of the Cascais line with an original design inspired by the American artist.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Keith Haring Foundation in 2019, whose main objectives are the fight against HIV and AIDS, a series of awareness and prevention actions were developed in partnership with ACES Cascais, the Cascais Town Hall, CascaiShopping, the Cascais Hospital, ModaLisboa and SER + (Portuguese Association for the Prevention and Challenge of AIDS).

Being fashion one of the themes of this exhibition, the ambassador and spokesperson invited by State of the Art was Dino Alves, one of the most renowned fashion designers in Portugal.

The architectural project for the temporary museum of the exhibition, carried out by Diogo Aguiar Studio was based on Haring’s artistic expression: line, color and symbols.