Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring by Brad Gooch
Written by Erin Pauwels in the Book Review category and the Fall 2024 issue Topics in this article: art, Brad Gooch, gay, HIV/AIDS, Keith Haring, LGBTQ, pop art
Radiant
The Life and Line of Keith Haring
by Brad Gooch
HarperCollins, 512 pp., hardcover $40
Pennsylvania-born artist Keith Haring (1958–90) produced one of the most recognizable visual styles in 20th-century art. His distinctive drawings of barking dogs, grinning hearts and crawling babies were ubiquitous in the art world and graffiti culture of the 1970s and 1980s and today remain iconic symbols of youth culture. Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring, by Brad Gooch, brilliantly captures the artist’s legacy in a comprehensive biography that will engage Haring’s fans as well as newcomers to his work.
Haring was a fixture on the New York City art and music scene at the moment when Pop art entered the mainstream and disco gave way to hip-hop. Gooch’s richly contextualized narrative offers a vivid window into this era, detailing Haring’s collaborative friendships with artists and performers like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna, Andy Warhol, William Burroughs, Yoko Ono and Run-D.M.C.
The artist’s untimely passing from AIDS-related complications in 1990 at the age of 31 lends a poignant edge to descriptions of and early forays into New York City club culture. Gooch’s chapters on Haring’s final years are particularly moving, not because they dwell on illness, but because they highlight Haring’s desire to live on through his artwork and to give back through public service by championing pride and HIV-awareness when many refused to discuss either AIDS or the gay community that this epidemic most grievously affected.
This is not the first biography of Haring to be published. Gooch gratefully acknowledges John Gruen’s authorized work, which was released the year following Haring’s death and remains an invaluable rendering of the artist’s life. Gooch’s great accomplishment is in crafting this vast output of personal reminiscences and art world gossip into a vibrant narrative that speaks to the joyful passion with which Haring approached his life, his relationships, and especially his art.
Erin Pauwels
Temple University