Keith Haring Patch - Dj Dog Red on Black - Rectangular

About Keith Haring Patch - Dj Dog Red on Black - Rectangular

This Keith Haring Patch represents one of Haring's most famous characters: Dj Dog.

Dogs dancing, barking or biting recurred frequently within Haring’s work and developed into an iconic image associated with the artist. What later became a dog actually started out as an undefined creature, and Haring’s dog (often depicted on two feet) can best be understood as a mythical representation of a human being.

Dancing dogs often referenced artistic performance or breakdancing, but Haring’s dogs also stood for Anubis, the Ancient Egyptian god with a jackals’ head who watches over the dead.

In Haring’s versions, the image of dogs playing with or crushing small human figures plays into both these Egyptian conceptions of life and death, but also the Christian idea of the “dance of the dead.”

Keith Haring was a famous American street artist. His 1980’s graffiti-inspired drawings, made in New York City subway stations marked a generation and beyond. Firstly, he was interested in the colorful and subversive graffiti art of the city’s streets. Haring’s signature images included dancing figures, a crawling infant emitting rays of light, a barking dog, a flying saucer, large hearts, and figures with televisions for heads.

Most importantly, Haring’s work expressed concepts of birth, death, sexuality, and war. He was openly gay and was a strong advocate of safe sex. Secondly, his work turned to focus on AIDS awareness when he contracted the disease. He also established the Keith Haring Foundation to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organizations and children’s programs. Haring died by1990, but his art and influence remain legendary throughout the world.