modern artist keith haring took the challenge of many of the greats. the likes of michaelangelo and chagall employed the bible to create inspiring masterpieces. mr. haring chose the ten commandments as his biblical topic. per the keith haring foundation, “the ten commandments were painted on the occasion of haring’s first one-person museum show at the contemporary art museum in bordeaux, france in 1985.” here is a link to many of the paintings.
mr. haring began as an alternative artist from the new york community and rose to b international recognition. his distinctive style became part of contemporary culture. people simply know haring’s works when they see it. he died young at 31.
mr. haring was interviewed about his ten commandments’ project. his thoughts were share with interviewer sylvie couderc, with the collaboration of syivie marchand.
with respect to the project, mr. haring noted that he “could not remember what the “ten commandments” were so i had to get a bible when i got here. i read them and took a few notes to think of it before i started working. for me they rapidly became metaphors.”
[commentary: right out of the gate, he shallowly approached this subject matter tion. his statement suggests that the best he could achieve would be images of a visceral nature. ]
mr. haring’s thought process was that “the way i worked on the “ten commandments” is: even though its says “thou shalt not steal”, the picture i show is someone stealing: the antithesis. i present what not to do instead of saying “this is what you should do”. “he admitted that “if you did not know that they are the “ten commandments”, you would probably read a different story.”
[commentary: while a counter-culture approach to a subject can be employed to provide uniqueness with respect to mainstream material, taking the opposite direction for the sake of being different does not necessarily translate to creativity. being frequently counter can become tiresome and predictable. ]
with respect to messaging, he indicated that “the vocabulary of my images became “physical”, almost; it’s a vocabulary of signs and symbols evoking different ideas, and gaining meaning through repetition and juxtaposition, changing meaning as they appear over and over, as i use them in different situations. images gain power with repetition. there are some images that i will only use once, and not use again because they don’t seem to really hit the nail right on the head, but there are some which are so strong they have to be reduced; sometimes just reusing them makes them stronger.”
[commentary: this insight is mr. harring’s brilliance. he mastered these concepts and created great works founded upon them. there is much to be learned this artist’s wisdom.]
with respect to communication, mr. haring indicated that “an artist putting as many images into the world as i am should be aware or try to understand what that means and how those images are absorbed or how they affect the world. i don’t think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. it celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.”
[commentary: mr. haring’s thoughts reveal that the era he living in was far different from the present. art, in a large part, is now propaganda; an abundance of messaging.]
in the end, i would argue that keith haring did keith haring as opposed to keith haring taking on the ten commandments. admittedly, he took little insight into the subject matter. likewise, he arguably took a tired counter-culture approach to the commandments. the end result fails to capture the commandments’ message. while one can look at each individual commandments, the essential message being that a group of people collectively entering a covenant of rules in order to create an ordered nation. a nation that would be founded upon the principles of justice. mr. haring’s interview on his ten commandments project is perhaps the greatness of his project. his sharing of his art concept and technique is invaluable any person picking up brush and trying to make a splash on a canvas.
be well!!
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The Ten Commandments Project 