Untitled #6 1988

Keith Haring made this untitled black and white painting, probably with house paint, though who knows, some time in the 1980s when he was living and working in New York. Haring was a master of the line, and here, using simple means, he makes an entire world come into being: a person, a machine, an architectural form. The black lines perform a kind of dance on the white ground. It looks carefree, but there's a tension, like he's improvising and yet is in total control. The marks are super assured—they are also blunt, almost cartoonish. And I imagine Haring working fast, pushing that line this way and that. I love how this piece is both playful and knowing at the same time. Painting is an ongoing conversation, a call and response that echoes through time. Haring looked at the paintings of his predecessors, and I have no doubt that younger artists are taking inspiration from him today.