Most people are completely unaware that they like Keith Haring. His stuff is everywhere and often without credit. You know those little blue dogs? Multicolored babies and dancing people? Angels and devils? Oh come on... how about the giant penises? All of his drawings and paintings are brilliantly colored and have a thick, bold, black outlines.
He launched his career in 1981, after dropping out of graphic art school. He hated that his colleagues always said they would do their art on the side in their spare time, but they never followed through. He started by sketching a series of chalk drawings in the subway stations of New York City. The energy of his work were a direct outgrowth of the local scene at the time in which Haring actively participated.
In a short number of years, Haring's work propelled him to international fame and established him as a 80s icon. Madonna boasts being his friend in her early years. Haring died of AIDS in 1990.