Apocalypse 3
Apocalypse 3
Signed Print
Keith Haring
£7,000-£10,500Value Indicator
$14,500-$22,000 Value Indicator
$13,000-$19,000 Value Indicator
¥70,000-¥100,000 Value Indicator
€8,000-€12,500 Value Indicator
$70,000-$110,000 Value Indicator
¥1,370,000-¥2,050,000 Value Indicator
$9,500-$14,000 Value Indicator
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96 x 96cm, Edition of 90, Screenprint
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 90
Year: 1988
Size: H 96cm x W 96cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: December 2024
Value Trend:
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Meaning & Analysis
Apocalypse 3 is a signed screen print from Keith Haring’s dynamic Apocalypse series (1988) that provides the viewer with a hellish visual narrative of the AIDS epidemic and the end of the world. This print shows a phallocentric universe depicted in bold lines, splatters of primary colour and harsh gestural marks to convey a sense of violence and chaos.
A giant phallus hangs over the scene of deformed figures, ‘devil sperm’, planes, army vehicles and a set of stairs that anchor the composition. The central image is a collaged 1950s-era magazine clipping showing a mother feeding her child, used by Haring to create a dialogue between dissimilar worlds and shock the viewer. Haring uses his linear style to draw on top of the image and contextualise the mother and child within the chaotic scene, notably adding mitre-like headdresses on the figures that renders the figures sacred. The image also shows the tail of the ‘devil sperm’ infecting the child’s milk bottle, alluding to the transmission of HIV from mother to child during the epidemic.
Producing a social commentary on the stigmas surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Haring’s line drawings directly relate death and danger to sexuality and promiscuity. By placing the clipping of mother and child within the print, Haring creates a jarring image that dissolves boundaries between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and injects a moment of purity into the violent scene.
Keith Haring was a luminary of the 1980s downtown New York scene. His distinctive visual language pioneered one-line Pop Art drawings and he has been famed for his colourful, playful imagery. Haring's iconic energetic motifs and figures were dedicated to influencing social change, and particularly challenging stigma around the AIDS epidemic. Haring also pushed for the accessibility of art by opening Pop Shops in New York and Japan, selling a range of ephemera starting from as little as 50 cents. Haring's legacy has been cemented in the art-activism scene and is a testament to power of art to inspire social change
