My paintings are widely distinct from traditional paintings since Renaissance. While those paintings reproduce life through realism, my paintings do not imitate life, but create it instead. --- Keith Haring

Keith Haring was active in the 1980s during the 20th century. His works are characterized by simple outlines and lively bright colors, as his doodle-like figures, dogs, and flying saucers sprang up like mushrooms in New York’s subways and streets in the 1980s, becoming a part of New York commuters’ daily life. These are not only graffiti—they are an art, as well as the pop artist Keith Haring’s declaration and reflection on social issues at that time through symbols and totems.

In this work “Untitled,” there are nearly no distinctions between the foreground and background, indoor and outdoor. Despite the complexity in composition, all the actions in this piece of artwork are compressed into a zero depth plane. Although most of Keith Haring’s creations have a kind of narrative, this story does not have an end or a beginning. It resembles the computer’s arbitrary input function whereby viewers or users can interpret a part of the work from any one point. Keith Haring’s art expresses his most immediate response to a moment, just like it is in life where art must also constantly change and transform under the flow of time. He fought against the established society by putting cultural reflections into street graffiti and bringing street graffiti into galleries and museums. As a result, the value of street creation has been recognized by the art community.

Keith Haring’s paintings do not only convey love and tolerance like the series explicitly appears, but he also instilled the motivation for people to reflect on society into his works. He expressed his concerns for society through creations. For example, political issues, anti-racism, anti-drug abuse, and promotion of safe sex are some of the themes that he wanted to remind the general public through his creations. Keith Haring once said, “Art should liberate your soul, inspire your imagination, and drive people to move forward.” Until this day, Keith Haring’s art continues to influence contemporary art and the social issues that he cared about continue to be discussed. The signature bold outlines, childlike doodles, and recurring symbols in his paintings have become a representative impression of the 20th century pop art.