Art Is Life: The Life of Artist Keith Haring

by Tami Lewis Brown, Keith Negley (Illustrator)

Overview

Writer Tami Lewis Brown and illustrator Keith Negley present a joyful picture book biography of modern art icon Keith Haring, celebrating the ways his life embodied the message: art is for everyone.

Art is life...
and life is art.

Keith Haring believed that art should be enjoyed by everyone.

When Keith first moved to New York City, he rode the subway and noticed how the crowds were bored and brusque, and that the subways were decayed and dreary. He thought the people of New York needed liberating, illuminating, and radiating art. So he bought a stick of white chalk and started drawing…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374304249
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Tami Lewis Brown is a former lawyer and elementary school librarian. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts where she has served on the board of trustees for over ten years. Her previous picture book biography, Soar, Elinor!, was a 2011 Top Ten Amelia Bloomer Project selection and Junior Library Guild Selection. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Keith Negley’s work has appeared on book covers, children’s books, T-shirts, album covers, posters, skateboard decks, and even a watch. He is s a frequent contributor to the New York Times and the New Yorker, in addition to many other national publications. He is the author and illustrator of the picture books Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too), My Dad Used to be So Cool, and Mary Wears What She Wants. Keith resides in the mountains of Bellingham, Washington, with his wife and two boys.

Editorial Reviews

11/02/2020

As he moves through the pages of this picture book, a squiggly halo accompanies Keith Haring, “just like the art that skipped/ and hopped/ and snapped/ and popped/ inside Keith’s head.” Lewis Brown uses simple sentences occasionally stacked with descriptors to sketch moments in Haring’s life, from a childhood drawing on his father’s lap to scrawling on subway platforms in chalk and drinking tea with Andy Warhol, crafting a portrait of a much-loved man determined to share his art with many: “Art is for everybody. Art is life. Life is art.” Negley’s blunt, blocky forms use bright colors, collage-like texture, and Haring-esque shapes to evoke art that made “people smile and laugh and cry and think.” It’s a warm introduction to an accessible talent. Author’s and illustrator’s notes include more about Haring’s life, including his early death from AIDS. Ages 4–7. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

" . . . a warm introduction to an accessible talent." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

12/01/2020

K-Gr 2—This picture book spotlights one of America's most famous pop artists. From his earliest years, Keith Haring (1958–1990) was an artist. Haring, who grew up in small-town Pennsylvania, surrounded himself with art. He drew constantly and anywhere he could. When Haring was 20, he moved to New York City and attended the School of Visual Arts. Haring believed that art was for everyone; he shared his passion for beauty and joy on the streets, in museums, and across the world. He didn't limit his artistic expression to traditional mediums; he drew on the walls of the subway stations with chalk. In 1986, he opened a store in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo and called it the Pop Shop. His art spoke to social issues such as racism and drug abuse and championed love and unity. He even painted a mural on the Berlin Wall in 1986. Haring was only 31 when he passed away, but his accomplishments made a lasting impact. Negley's illustrations capture the kinetic energy of Haring's work while carrying readers from one phase of his life to the next. The text is simple but lovely, punctuated by Haring's personal philosophy: Art is life; life is art. An author's note offers further understanding of this icon's creative legacy and life. Resources include one list for children and one for adults. VERDICT An eye-catching addition to school and public library art sections.—Savannah Kitchens, Parnell Memorial Lib., Montevallo, AL

School Library Journal

2020-09-29
A child’s introduction to Keith Haring.

Outlining the artistic career of an iconic neo-expressionist is hardly a black-and-white endeavor, and paring down Haring’s legacy for children over 30 years after an early and complicated death is a task in itself. Unfortunately, this effort fails to deliver an in-depth or unique look at his life or his art, instead reducing both to a repetitive and uninspired mantra: “Art is life. Life is art.” Beginning with Haring's hildhood in Pennsylvania and continuing through his life in 1980s New York City, author Brown provides a well-paced but conservative biography, with almost no personal details or thoughtful analysis of his work. Within its limitations, it succeeds well enough. The text is punctuated with a number of choice vocabulary words, good for inquisitive young readers at a variety of levels, and bookended with enough context for understanding. The book is truly carried, however, by Negley’s vibrant and (appropriately) semiabstract illustrations. The pages burst with lively pops of color, friendly faces in a diverse palette—Haring is White—and, naturally, an endless stream of squiggly lines and dancing figures. Altogether, it’s a decent starting point for youngsters interested in drawing on the walls, but a noticeable lack of nuance leaves something to be desired. Matthew Burgess and Josh Cochran’s Drawing on Walls (2020) paints a far fuller picture.

Despite excellent illustrations, does not do its subject’s complexity justice. (author's note, illustrator's note, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews