Haring moved to New York City from
Kutztown in 1978 to study
painting at the
School of Visual Arts. He became immersed in the art scene of the
East Village and befriended
Brooklyn native Jean-Michel Basquiat. Before becoming a leading artist in the
neo-expressionism movement, Basquiat started out doing
street art in
lower Manhattan as
SAMO. In 1989, Haring told
Rolling Stone: "Before I knew who he was, I became obsessed with Jean-Michel Basquiat's work." Haring was inspired, and he also took to the streets, where he became popular for his
New York City Subway drawings. By 1983, Basquiat and Haring both had established gallery representation in the United States and Europe. They had also become friends with their idol,
pop artist
Andy Warhol. Following Basquiat's death from a
heroin overdose on August 12, 1988, Haring wrote his obituary for
Vogue and created
A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat in tribute.
A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat was painted on a triangular canvas, like a
warning sign, edged with a red outline. In the center is a towering pile of black and white crowns on the ground glistening triumphantly. The three-pointed crown was Basquiat's signature artistic
motif. It appears so often in his artwork that it has become a recognizable symbol in popular culture. On the bottom right corner is a
copyright symbol, which was one of Basquiat's signature symbols. Haring also used the triangle style motif in his limited edition screenprint run
Silence = Death, released in 1989, which aimed to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the time. == Exhibitions ==