Haring began his career in the early 1980s with graffiti drawings made in the subways and on the sidewalks of New York City. Cartoonish creatures were combined with highly stylized abstract patterning to create a dense, rhythmic carpet of imagery, and spaceships, hearts, crawling babies, and winged figures appeared frequently, as they do in this large, friezelike drawing. Its size evokes the artist's ephemeral public murals and bridges the gap between the art gallery and the street.
Gallery label from Contemporary Galleries: 1980–Now, November 17, 2011–February 17, 2014
