"Knight Thoughts" - exclusive web content
The late pop artist and queer activist finally gets a well deserved film homage
Requiem for a Fallen Comrade:
The Universe of Keith Haring
10-31-08 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive review
By Richard Knight, Jr.
The Universe of Keith Haring is a long overdue and vibrant documentary portrait of the 80s pop art sensation and queer
activist who died from AIDS in 1990 robbing the world of his delightful talent and energetic personality.  The film includes talking
head remembrances from his family, friends, and artistic contemporaries including Yoko Ono, Kenny Scharf, Bill T. Jones, and David
LaChappelle.  Madonna, one of Haring’s closest friends is a glaring absence from those interviewed though she’s seen in vintage
footage and photographs.  

Many of Haring’s contemporaries, including Jean Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, having passed on are also seen in retro footage,
often alongside the playful artist and Haring is heard in interview tapes, filling in many of the blanks on is meteoric rise to the top of
the art world in what would turn out to be an all too brief career.  Best is watching the many examples of Haring at work, speedily
creating his instantly recognizable, densely intertwined cartoon figures that seem even in the old videos ready to leap off the
canvas.  This is a genial and often moving portrait of both a fall gay hero.  Opens an exclusive run in Chicago at the Gene Siskel
Center on Friday, October 31st.  
www.siskelfilmcenter.com