Art and Merchandise in Keith Haring’s Pop Shop

261 Pages·2020·14.22 MB·English

by  Amy Raffel

Art and Merchandise in Keith Haring’s
Pop Shop
As one of the first academic monographs on Keith Haring, this book uses the Pop
Shop, a previously overlooked enterprise, and artist merchandising as tools to
reconsider the significance and legacy of Haring’s career as a whole.
Haring developed an alternative approach to both the marketing and the social
efficacy of art: he controlled the sales and distribution of his merchandise, while also
promulgating his belief in accessibility and community activism. He proved that mass-
produced objects can be used strategically to form a community and create social
change. Furthermore, looking beyond the 1980s, into the 1990s and 2000s, Haring
and his shop prefigured artists’ emerging, self-aware involvement with the mass media,
and the art world’s growing dependence on marketing and commercialism.
This book will be of interest to scholars or students studying art history, consumer
culture, cultural studies, media studies, or market studies, as well as anyone with
a curiosity about Haring and his work, the 1980s art scene in New York, the East
Village, street art, art activism, and art merchandising.
Amy Raffel , Ph.D., is an independent scholar who currently works in museum
interpretation and education.
Cover image: Tseng Kwong Chi, Pop Shop, New York, 1986. Art © The Keith Haring
Foundation. Photo © Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc.
Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies
This series is our home for innovative research in the fields of art and visual studies.
It includes monographs and targeted edited collections that provide new insights into
visual culture and art practice, theory, and research.
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Contemporary Art and Disability Studies
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The Outsider, Art and Humour
Paul Clements
The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria
Social Critique and an Artistic Movement
Charlotte Bank
The Iconology of Abstraction
Non-Figurative Images and the Modern World
Edited by Krešimir Purgar
Liquid Ecologies in Latin American and Caribbean Art
Edited by Lisa Blackmore and Liliana Gómez
Contemporary Art, Photography, and the Politics of Citizenship
Vered Maimon
Contemporary Art and Capitalist Modernization
A Transregional Perspective
Edited by Octavian Esanu
Art and Merchandise in Keith Haring’s Pop Shop
Amy Raffel
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/Routledge-
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Art and Merchandise in
Keith Haring’s Pop Shop
Amy Raffel
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Amy Raffel to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Raffel, Amy, author.
Title: Art and merchandise in Keith Haring’s Pop Shop / Amy Raffel.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020031061 (print) | LCCN 2020031062 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367858735 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003015437 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Haring, Keith—Criticism and interpretation. | Pop Shop
(Retail store) | Artists and community. | Art, Modern—20th century—
Economic aspects.
Classification: LCC N6537.H348 R34 2021 (print) | LCC N6537.H348
(ebook) | DDC 700.1/03—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031061
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031062
ISBN: 978-0-367-85873-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-01543-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Keith Haring text and artwork © Keith Haring Foundation
To Keith Haring, whose career has been a rich and endlessly
interesting topic to research—still just as engaging as when
I started several years ago. Even though I came to his work
almost 23 years after he passed, his generosity, passion,
and love for his fans and for art shine through in his many
interviews and writings. It has been a privilege to write about
him and his work.

Contents
List of Figures and Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
I ntroduction 1
1 Hitting the Streets: Early Lessons in Populism and Advertising 18
2 The Downtown Scene and Artist-Run Shops of the 1980s 48
3 The Pop Shop 85
4 Art Merchandise and Mass Media as Activist Strategies 124
5 The Post–Pop Shop: Its Life After Haring’s Death 163
6 Pop Shop Chain Reaction: Artist Merchandising in the 2000s 184
E pilogue: Populist Art for a Populist World 213
B ibliography 216
Index 235

Figures and Illustrations
1.1 Keith Haring, Untitled, 1982. 20
1.2 K eith Haring, two pages from A Personal Mythology, An Essay: For
Semiotics Class (SVA), 1980. 23
1.3 Keith Haring, Untitled, 1981. 27
1.4 Keith Haring, Untitled (recto and verso), c. 1980. 30
1.5 Keith Haring, Reagan: Ready to Kill, 1980. 31
1.6 Stills from Painting Myself into a Corner , 1979. 33
1.7 T seng Kwong Chi, Keith Haring Drawing in New York City Subway,
New York, 1983. 35
1.8 Keith Haring, Radiant Baby button, c. 1982. 37
2.1 Keith Haring, Fun Gallery postcard, 1983. 52
2.2 T imes Square Show shop, 1980. 56
2.3 Kiki Smith, Untitled (Cigarette Pack), 1980. 57
2.4 A. More Store at White Columns, 1980. 59
2.5 Christy Rupp, Rat Ornament, 1980–83. 61
2.6 Tom Otterness, A. More Store advertisement, 1980. 62
2.7 A. More Store advertisement, 1981. 63
2.8 Fashion Moda Store, Documenta 7, 1982. 66
2.9 Fashion Moda T-shirt and detail for Documenta 7, 1982. 67
2 .10 Objets Vend’art by Vendona , Quad Cinema, 1985–89. 69
2 .11 Patricia Malarcher, A Piece of the City, c. 1986–88. 72
2 .12 Joey Castolone, Span-Yid Productions, The Music Box, c. 1986–88. 72
3.1 Tseng Kwong Chi. Pop Shop, New York, 1986. 87
3.2 Keith Haring, Untitled (Pop Shop jumpsuits), 1987. 89
3.3 Pop Shop merchandise, foldout catalog created by Keith Haring, 1988. 91
3.4 Pop Shop postcard, 1986. 92
3.5 Pop Shop drawstring bag, c. 1986. 93
3.6 P op Shop merchandise, foldout poster and catalog created by Keith
Haring. Tseng Kwong Chi, Pop Shop, New York, 1986. 94
3.7 Pop Shop merchandise, foldout catalog created by Keith Haring, 1988. 95
3.8 Tseng Kwong Chi, Pop Shop, Tokyo, 1988. 102
3.9 K eith Haring painting a mural on the roof of the Tokyo Pop Shop
and Pop Shop Tokyo sign, 1987. 103
3 .10 Keith Haring, Pop Shop Tokyo Fan, 1987. 104
3 .11 Keith Haring, Pop Shop Tokyo Bag, 1987. 105
4.1 Keith Haring, Pope Killed for Freed Hostage , 1980. 127