Crack is Wack !
Have you heard about Keith Haring?
If you don’t know who Keith Haring is yet, hopefully after this blog entry you will. Just like the Statue of Liberty, hot dogs or the Empire State building Keith Haring typifies ( for me) the ‘real’ New York.
Haring was a North American artist whose work was created in the 80’s. He was well known for his graphic style and the centrality of themes such as sexuality and death in his art (which were commonly explored at that time). Similar to Jean Michel Basquiat, he was amongst the first artists to explore urban forms of art and the importance of graffiti as art.
He did not work exclusively in New York but it is where he created his first “urban” artworks. These first urban drawings involved him drawing with white chalk on the empty black poster mounts of New York City subway stations. He created almost 40 of these artworks every day!
These drawings were just a small part of his collected work. His murals, in particular, are worth a visit if you are as big a fan of Keith Haring as I am.
One of these murals is entitled “Crack is Whack!” It can be found on a playground in Harlem situated at the beginning (or at the end ….depending on your point of view) of 2nd Avenue.
Getting to the playground is pretty easy as the subway station is not far away. What makes the experience of seeing this mural all the more incredible is that you can find on of haring’s most extraordinary works in one of New York’s more ordinary places- in a playground right next to a highway.
There you have it! The message of this mural (which incidentally was painted without city permission) was a condemnation of crack and its devastating effects on the people in Harlem hence – Crack is Wack!
Another one of Keith Haring’s murals, is located at midtown New York, West Village and is easier to find then “Crack is Whack”. It was painted on top of a public pool however you can only see it from the street. The pool is inside the Tony Dapolito recreation center and it is almost impossible to get inside to get a better view because they have a members only policy at the entrance.
As an aside it is easier to get a closer view of “Crack is Whack” at the childrens playground at James J Walker Park on Leroy street than it is to see it from the street.
Finally, you might never expect to find one of Keith Haring’s works inside of a cathedral but there is one inside Saint John the Divine Cathedral. To find it just go behind the choir where there is a chapel that you might think is just an ordinary Cathedral chapel…
But, look closely….
And there is Keith Haring’s work- a silver triptych named Life of Christ, which was one of his last works before his death. He was so full of energy that he kept working until the end.
Oh, and by the way, the cathedral is interesting too.
If you want to know more about Keith Haring there is the excellent article by Martin Schulze here
You can also visit the Keith Haring foundation website:
http://www.haring.com/
Crack Is Whack playground
E 127th St
New York, NY 10035
on google maps: here
Subway station: 125th street (lines 4/5/6)
Tony Dapolito recreation center
1 Clarkson St
New York, NY 10014
on google maps: here
Subway stations: Houston street (line 1)
West 4 street Washinton square (lines A/B/C/D/E/F/M)
The children’s playground where you can have a better vue of Keith Haring’s mural is on Leroy street, and the name is James J Walker Park.
on google maps: here
Saint John the Divine cathedral
1047 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10025
on google maps: here
Subway stations: Cathedral parkway (line 1)
Cathedral parkway (lines B/C)