Image by Andrea Sartorati; licensed under CC BY 2.0

Keith Haring

“The public needs art — and it is the responsibility of a ‘self-proclaimed artist’ to realize that the public needs art, and not to make bourgeois art for a few and ignore the masses.”

American pop artist Keith Haring helped bring socially-charged street art into broad public consciousness with graffiti-inspired drawings in 1980s New York City.

Haring’s imagery broached controversial topics, including sexuality and gay rights, drug addiction, war, and apartheid through exuberant, now-iconic figures and symbols, such as hearts, flying saucers, babies, and barking dogs.

Despite a brief but prolific career, Haring’s clean lines and simple subjects contributed to the lasting legacy of his imagery and ushered in a new era of street-to-gallery artists and helped vault subversive art into the mainstream.

Coming Soon
Solo Shows
Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum, SFMOMA, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Castello di Rivoli + more
Group Shows
MoMA, New Museum, Centre Pompidou, Castello di Rivoli, the Bass Museum of Art + more
Reviewed in
The New Yorker, The New York Times, LA Times, Artforum, frieze + more
CollectedBy
MoMA, the Whitney, LACMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Bass Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Ludwig Museum + more

In 1980s New York City, American pop artist Keith Haring helped bring socially-charged street art into mainstream view, with graffiti-inspired drawings that were both widely visible and commercially available to the public. Best known for his cartoony, exuberant figures and symbols, such as hearts, flying saucers, babies, and barking dogs, Haring’s imagery was both cute and disarming, which helped the artist broach controversial topics, including sexuality and gay rights, drug addiction, war, and apartheid.

Inspired by the imagery of abstract expressionist Pierre Alechinsky; the experimental, cut-up text of Beat writer William Burroughs; and site-specific installations by the sculptor Christo, Haring first attracted public attention by making white chalk drawings on black, unused advertisement panels in the New York City subway system, sometimes turning out as many as 40 illustrations a day. His first solo exhibition in New York was held in 1981; within the decade, Haring’s work would be featured in more than 100 solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including 1982’s documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany; the 1983 Whitney Biennial and São Paulo Biennial; and the 1985 Paris Biennial. In 1986, he was arrested for painting an anti-drug mural, “Crack is Wack,” which was initially considered an act of vandalism by the NYPD but has since become embraced as a landmark work of public art along the FDR Drive.

Haring’s longtime goal of making his art accessible led to numerous public murals and commercial ventures, including producing designs for Swatch, advertisements for Absolut Vodka, and opening “Pop Shops,” which sold shirts, posters, and other items with his imagery at reasonable prices. Proceeds from the Pop Shop later went to the Keith Haring Foundation, founded in 1989 to provide support to AIDS organizations and children’s programs, which continues to fund educational programs and exhibitions today. Haring’s clean lines and simple subjects, as well as universal messages of peace and love, contributed to the lasting legacy of his imagery and his brief but prolific career in the 1980s. Along with contemporaries such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Kenny Scharf, Haring ushered in a new era of street-to-gallery artists and helped pave the way for other forms of subversive art, from Banksy to The Simpsons.

OTIS WEALTH, INC. (“OTIS”) OPERATES THE WITHOTIS.COM WEBSITE (THE “SITE”) AND A MOBILE APP-BASED PLATFORM (THE “APP”), AND IS NOT A BROKER-DEALER OR INVESTMENT ADVISER. ALL SECURITIES-RELATED ACTIVITY IS CONDUCTED BY DALMORE GROUP, LLC (“DALMORE”), A REGISTERED BROKER-DEALER AND MEMBER OF FINRA (WWW.FINRA.ORG) AND SIPC (WWW.SIPC.ORG), LOCATED AT 525 GREEN PLACE, WOODMERE, NY 11598. YOU CAN REVIEW THE BROKERCHECK FOR DALMORE HERE. AN UP-TO-DATE DALMORE FORM CRS IS AVAILABLE HERE.

YOU SHOULD SPEAK WITH YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR, ACCOUNTANT AND/OR ATTORNEY WHEN EVALUATING ANY OFFERING. NEITHER OTIS, ITS AFFILIATED ISSUERS NOR DALMORE MAKES ANY RECOMMENDATIONS OR PROVIDES ADVICE ABOUT INVESTMENTS. THE SITE AND THE APP MAY MAKE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. YOU SHOULD NOT RELY ON THESE STATEMENTS BUT SHOULD CAREFULLY EVALUATE THE OFFERING MATERIALS IN ASSESSING ANY INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, INCLUDING THE COMPLETE SET OF RISK FACTORS THAT ARE PROVIDED FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.

OTIS GALLERY LLC (“GALLERY”) AND OTIS COLLECTION LLC (“COLLECTION”) ARE CONDUCTING PUBLIC OFFERINGS PURSUANT TO REGULATION A AND PRIVATE OFFERINGS PURSUANT TO REGULATION D UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, THROUGH THE APP. THE OFFERING CIRCULAR FOR GALLERY CAN BE FOUND HERE, AND THE OFFERING CIRCULAR FOR COLLECTION CAN BE FOUND HERE. THE PRIVATE PLACEMENT MEMORANDUM FOR ANY OFFERING CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO REGULATION D HAS BEEN OR WILL BE, AS APPLICABLE, DISTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO INVESTORS. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS. INVESTMENTS SUCH AS THOSE ON THE OTIS PLATFORM ARE SPECULATIVE AND INVOLVE SUBSTANTIAL RISKS TO CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING, OUTLINED IN THE RESPECTIVE OFFERING MATERIALS AND INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ILLIQUIDITY, LACK OF DIVERSIFICATION AND COMPLETE LOSS OF CAPITAL. KEY RISKS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, LIMITED OPERATING HISTORY, LIMITED DIVERSIFICATION, RISK OF ASSET DAMAGE OR THEFT AND LACK OF VOTING RIGHTS. ALSO, THE ADVERSE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ARE UNKNOWN AND COULD MATERIALLY IMPACT THIS INVESTMENT. AN INVESTMENT IN AN OFFERING CONSTITUTES ONLY AN INVESTMENT IN A PARTICULAR SERIES AND NOT IN OTIS, GALLERY, COLLECTION OR THE UNDERLYING ASSET(S). INVESTORS SHOULD CAREFULLY REVIEW THE RISKS LOCATED IN THE RESPECTIVE OFFERING MATERIALS FOR A MORE COMPREHENSIVE DISCUSSION OF RISK.

INVESTMENT OVERVIEWS CONTAINED HEREIN CONTAIN SUMMARIES OF THE PURPOSE AND THE PRINCIPAL BUSINESS TERMS OF THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. SUCH SUMMARIES ARE INTENDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DO NOT PURPORT TO BE COMPLETE, AND EACH IS QUALIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY REFERENCE TO THE MORE-DETAILED DISCUSSIONS CONTAINED IN THE RESPECTIVE OFFERING CIRCULAR FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (“SEC”) OR OTHER OFFERING MATERIALS RELATING TO SUCH INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY.

FROM TIME TO TIME, AFFILIATES OF OTIS WILL SEEK TO QUALIFY ADDITIONAL SECURITIES UNDER REGULATION A. FOR OFFERINGS THAT HAVE NOT YET BEEN QUALIFIED, NO MONEY OR OTHER CONSIDERATION IS BEING SOLICITED AND, IF SENT IN RESPONSE, WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. NO OFFER TO BUY SECURITIES CAN BE ACCEPTED, AND NO PART OF THE PURCHASE PRICE CAN BE RECEIVED, UNTIL AN OFFERING STATEMENT FILED WITH THE SEC HAS BEEN QUALIFIED BY THE SEC OR UNLESS AS STATED IN THE OFFERING MATERIALS RELATING TO AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, AS APPLICABLE. ANY SUCH OFFER MAY BE WITHDRAWN OR REVOKED, WITHOUT OBLIGATION OR COMMITMENT OF ANY KIND, AT ANY TIME BEFORE NOTICE OF ACCEPTANCE GIVEN AFTER THE DATE OF QUALIFICATION BY THE SEC OR AS STATED IN THE OFFERING MATERIALS RELATING TO AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, AS APPLICABLE. AN INDICATION OF INTEREST INVOLVES NO OBLIGATION OR COMMITMENT OF ANY KIND.

OTIS DOES NOT OFFER REFUNDS AFTER AN INVESTMENT HAS BEEN MADE. PLEASE REVIEW THE RELEVANT OFFERING MATERIALS AND SUBSCRIPTION DOCUMENTATION FOR MORE INFORMATION.

AN ACTIVE TRADING MARKET FOR ANY SERIES OF GALLERY OR COLLECTION INTERESTS MAY NOT DEVELOP OR BE SUSTAINED. IF AN ACTIVE PUBLIC TRADING MARKET FOR GALLERY OR COLLECTION INTERESTS DOES NOT DEVELOP OR IS NOT SUSTAINED, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO RESELL YOUR INTERESTS AT ANY PRICE. EVEN IF AN ACTIVE MARKET DOES DEVELOP, THE MARKET PRICE COULD DECLINE BELOW THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR YOUR INTERESTS. THERE IS NO ASSURANCE THAT THE OTIS PLATFORM WILL PROVIDE AN ACTIVE MARKET FOR RESALES OF GALLERY OR COLLECTION INTERESTS. FURTHER, WITHOUT THE OTIS PLATFORM, IT MAY BE DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO DISPOSE OF YOUR INTERESTS. IF THE MARKET DEVELOPS FOR ANY SERIES OF GALLERY AND/OR OTIS COLLECTION INTERESTS, THE MARKET PRICE OF SUCH INTERESTS COULD FLUCTUATE SIGNIFICANTLY FOR MANY REASONS, INCLUDING REASONS UNRELATED TO PERFORMANCE, THE UNDERLYING ASSETS OR ANY SERIES, SUCH AS REPORTS BY INDUSTRY ANALYSTS, INVESTOR PERCEPTIONS OR ANNOUNCEMENTS BY COMPETITORS REGARDING THEIR OWN PERFORMANCE, AS WELL AS GENERAL ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY CONDITIONS.