KEITH HARING - 1983 MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL (YELLOW)

5 colour neon screen print on half-matte coated paper 250gr.  Printed by Serigraphie Uldry Bern, Switzerland, with their copyright text to the lower left of the image. Professionally framed by 45th Degree, Wanaka, with UV99 Artglass. 

The photos of Keith Haring in cut-offs and big glasses chalking his curved figures on advertising boards in the subway are iconic images of 1980s cool and of a form of art open to all. The first official exhibition of Keith Haring’s work was held in 1982 at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York and was a huge success. Pierre Keller met Haring a few months later and asked him to produce a Festival poster featuring a dancing figure. Haring came up with three designs, all of which were accepted. Since Haring had not yet made a name for himself on the other side of the Atlantic, Keller took the remaining stock home, with each poster selling for between 8,000 and 10,000 francs several years later. Not a bad deal! More importantly, that summer of 1983, Keller and Nobs had the brainwave of inviting the New York artist to Montreux. As always, Haring painted constantly, producing murals on large blank panels and dashing off drawings on t-shirts. All forms of media seemed to suit the artist, whose meteoric rise was matched only by the speed of his drawing.

Since 1967, the Festival has entrusted the creation of its official poster to Swiss and international artists. Keith Haring produced a trio of posters in 1983, then teamed up with Andy Warhol for another in 1986. David Bowie produced a poster in 1995, and more recently, Yoann Lemoine (aka Woodkid) and Malika Favre have done the same.