Keith Haring Party of Life 1986 (Keith Haring birthday invite 1986):

Rare original invitation silkscreened on shorts to Keith Haring’s third annual Party of Life/1986 birthday, held at New York’s, The Palladium nightclub, May 21 1986 (see below for history). A historic 1980s Keith Haring collectible that makes for a nice addition to any 1980s Keith Haring collection. A rare, unused example in very nice condition.

Silkscreened shorts.
Size: adult extra small; approximately 14x21.5 inches.
Very good overall vintage condition; appears unused for the most part; minor staining in a few areas (visible from upfront only). Difficult to find as such.
Unsigned from an edition of unknown.

Further Background:
Keith Haring held a birthday party each year from 1984 to 1986 called ‘Party of Life’. Filmmaker Courtney Harmel captured the inaugural event, which was held on 16 May at the Paradise Garage nightclub on King Street, New York. The party was co-hosted by Larry Levan, resident DJ at the club from 1976 to 1987. Levan developed a cult following and is credited with introducing dub into dance music. The party featured performances by Madonna and performance artist John Sex. Madonna, wearing a pink suit covered in an elaborate web of black lines painted by Haring and LA II, sang ‘Dress You Up’ and ‘Like a Virgin’, which she released later that year.

Keith Haring was an American artist and social activist known for his illustrative depictions of figures and symbols. His white chalk drawings could often been found on the blank poster marquees in New York’s public spaces and subways. “I don't think art is propaganda,” he once stated. “It should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.” Born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, PA, he grew up in neighboring Kutztown, where he was inspired to draw from an early age by Walt Disney cartoons and his father who was an amateur cartoonist. Haring moved to New York in the late 1970s to attend the School of Visual Arts, and soon immersed himself in the city’s graffiti culture. By the mid-1980s, he had befriended fellow artists Andy Warhol, Kenny Scharf, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and collaborated with celebrities like the singer Grace Jones. Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988, Haring’s prodigious career was brief, and he died of AIDS-related complications on February 16, 1990 at the age of 31. Before his death, Haring established the Keith Haring Foundation, a non-profit committed to raising awareness of the illness through art programing and community outreach. Throughout his career, Haring made his art widely available through the location of his murals, as well as through the Pop Shop—Haring's own storefront which he used to sell his memorabilia.The artist’s mural Crack is Wack (1986), can still be seen today on a retaining wall along FDR Drive in Manhattan. Haring’s works can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Offered by Lot 180 Gallery New York.