We are pleased to present a focused exhibition of Keith Haring’s Subway Drawings, created in the early 1980s, to stand AM318 at ArtMiami this Winter. These works provide a vivid lens into the formative period of an artist who would become one of the most influential cultural figures of the late twentieth century.
Working at the intersection of street culture, activism, and fine art, Haring emerged from New York’s downtown scene with a singular vision: to make art public, immediate, and accessible. The city’s subway stations became his arena and his audience. Using sheets of matte-black paper that covered expired advertising panels, Haring drew quickly and with complete conviction, transforming everyday commuter spaces into spontaneous galleries. His bold, graphic, and deeply human iconography—radiant babies, barking dogs, dancers, and figures in motion—captured the pulse of the city and the urgency of the moment.
These drawings hold a unique place in art history. They represent the laboratory in which Haring built the visual language that would define his entire career. Created outside the constraints of the commercial art world—uncommissioned and uncommodified—they reveal the artist at his most pure and honest form. They were, in essence, a gift to the public of New York.
At the same time, Haring’s work spoke powerfully to the cultural landscape in which he lived. His imagery and actions engaged themes of social justice, collective responsibility, and the AIDS crisis, which would soon shape his life and work in profound ways. Today, the Subway Drawings remain as alive and relevant as ever—charged with movement, optimism, and the belief that art can both express and ignite the power of community.
