Here at Yellowpop, we have a long history of collaborating with artists from different mediums and reimagining their work into neon art. It’s what we do, it’s one of the core foundations of our brand--we take images that inspire people and we shape them into a different form. In creating artwork into neon, we hope to pull the feeling that art gives you from the canvas and into the room. We want your favorite phrase to create an atmosphere with coloured light, and we want to inspire your creativity through dappled color.
When we teamed up with the Keith Haring Foundation to create our latest collaboration, we knew this one would be different.
“Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination
and encourages people to go further.” -- Keith Haring
To start, unlike our previous collections, Keith Haring himself didn’t create and curate his work to be presented in neon--a Yellowpop collaboration first. Keith Haring passed away from AIDS in 1990, and since then his work has been overseen by the Keith Haring Foundation, created in his honor.
We also knew we wanted Keith Haring’s art to reflect the world he came from for audiences to really connect with the power behind each piece. In order to properly honor Keith’s creations we needed to be where he was and where he created his pieces, in New York City, sharing art with everyone, just like Keith so fervently believed.
"If commercialization is putting my art on a shirt so that a kid who can't afford
a $30,000 painting can buy one, then I'm all for it." --Keith Haring
Alongside the Keith Haring Foundation, Yellowpop was able to create 8 stunning pieces that embody Keith’s beliefs and display his most iconic imagery. Keith believed that art should be available to everyone, he was a fierce advocate for LGBT+ rights during the AIDS crisis and a keen supporter of disadvantaged populations in the city. He believed that all art, even high-end art, should be made available to the public.
"Art is nothing if you don't reach every segment of the people." --Keith Haring
To honor Keith, we wanted to make our reimagining of his art available to everyone too. Through our first ever pop-up, we embodied New York in the 80s. Our aim was to use our art to capture the energy, the music, and street art that was buzzing with creativity and optimism. At our latest fall events and through the art his iconic images helped create, we celebrate Keith’s life and vision: a world full of playful lines that embody his mischievous and dynamic spirit.
We believe Haring would have collaborated with us should he still be alive, and we hope our latest collection would make him truly proud.