Original Pop Shop Pin Badge – (After) Keith Haring
Pin Badge
1986
Diameter 2.5cm
Still in excellent condition, this is one of the first pin badges produced by the Pop Shop, identifiable by the lack of the ‘TM’ (trademark) on the image on the badge – these were added to batches produced later on once the Pop Shop took off. The reverese/side of this badge features ‘KEITH HARING TM’ – this subsequently became ‘© K. HARING (Date)’ on later pin badges.
The Pop Shop opened its doors in 1986 at 292 Lafayette Street in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan, NYC. Haring saw the Pop Shop as an extension of his work, a fun boutique where his art could be accessible to everyone. The Shop sold T-shirts and novelty items with Keith’s imagery as well as some of his contemporaries, like Kenny Scharf and Jean Michel Basquiat. Haring later opened a Pop Shop in Tokyo in 1987. Haring painted the inside walls of both shops, creating an immersive experience into his aesthetic. The Pop Shop Tokyo closed in 1988 and the NYC Pop Shop location closed in September of 2005. In 2006 the exhibition Keith Haring: Art and Commerce examined the context and history of the Pop Shop, and in 2009, as part of the group exhibition Pop Life, the Tate Modern reconstructed aspects of the New York Pop Shop to recreate the feeling of the original. The original Pop Shop ceiling was donated to the New York Historical Society and is installed in its entry.
Pin Badge
1986
Diameter 2.5cm
Still in excellent condition, this is one of the first pin badges produced by the Pop Shop, identifiable by the lack of the ‘TM’ (trademark) on the image on the badge – these were added to batches produced later on once the Pop Shop took off. The reverese/side of this badge features ‘KEITH HARING TM’ – this subsequently became ‘© K. HARING (Date)’ on later pin badges.
The Pop Shop opened its doors in 1986 at 292 Lafayette Street in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan, NYC. Haring saw the Pop Shop as an extension of his work, a fun boutique where his art could be accessible to everyone. The Shop sold T-shirts and novelty items with Keith’s imagery as well as some of his contemporaries, like Kenny Scharf and Jean Michel Basquiat. Haring later opened a Pop Shop in Tokyo in 1987. Haring painted the inside walls of both shops, creating an immersive experience into his aesthetic. The Pop Shop Tokyo closed in 1988 and the NYC Pop Shop location closed in September of 2005. In 2006 the exhibition Keith Haring: Art and Commerce examined the context and history of the Pop Shop, and in 2009, as part of the group exhibition Pop Life, the Tate Modern reconstructed aspects of the New York Pop Shop to recreate the feeling of the original. The original Pop Shop ceiling was donated to the New York Historical Society and is installed in its entry.
Pin Badge
1986
Diameter 2.5cm
Still in excellent condition, this is one of the first pin badges produced by the Pop Shop, identifiable by the lack of the ‘TM’ (trademark) on the image on the badge – these were added to batches produced later on once the Pop Shop took off. The reverese/side of this badge features ‘KEITH HARING TM’ – this subsequently became ‘© K. HARING (Date)’ on later pin badges.
The Pop Shop opened its doors in 1986 at 292 Lafayette Street in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan, NYC. Haring saw the Pop Shop as an extension of his work, a fun boutique where his art could be accessible to everyone. The Shop sold T-shirts and novelty items with Keith’s imagery as well as some of his contemporaries, like Kenny Scharf and Jean Michel Basquiat. Haring later opened a Pop Shop in Tokyo in 1987. Haring painted the inside walls of both shops, creating an immersive experience into his aesthetic. The Pop Shop Tokyo closed in 1988 and the NYC Pop Shop location closed in September of 2005. In 2006 the exhibition Keith Haring: Art and Commerce examined the context and history of the Pop Shop, and in 2009, as part of the group exhibition Pop Life, the Tate Modern reconstructed aspects of the New York Pop Shop to recreate the feeling of the original. The original Pop Shop ceiling was donated to the New York Historical Society and is installed in its entry.
Keith Haring (1958-1990) rose to prominence in 1980s New York within the East Village art scene alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, and Jenny Holzer.
Haring bridged the gap between the art world and the street, getting up on city subways and sidewalks before committing to a studio practice. Haring united the appeal of cartoons with the raw energy of Art Brut artists such as Jean DuBuffet as he developed a distinct pop-graffiti aesthetic that comprised energetic, boldly outlined figures against solid or patterned backdrops. His major themes included exploitation, subjugation, drug abuse, and the threat of nuclear holocaust; Haring boldly engaged with social issues, especially after receiving an AIDS diagnosis in 1987. Today, his work sells for seven figures at auction and has been the subject of solo shows at the Brooklyn Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Albertina Museum in Vienna, among other institutions.