Martin Lawrence Galleries

About the Work

"Untitled (Orange Drawing)" is a hand-signed felt tip pen on paper drawing created by Keith Haring in 1987. The sheet size is 18 x 15.5" and the artwork is framed in a contemporary, closed-corner, gold leaf frame. The artwork ships framed and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

Sporting a sideways hat and a ‘safe sex’ shirt of his own design, Haring is seen sitting on the floor of a dimly lit New York City nightclub, smiling and joking with his peers as his orange neon pen freely glides across the paper. In just under 3 minutes, Untitled emerges, a testament to Keith Haring’s masterful spontaneous technique. The speed and precision of Haring's hands, employing bold, seamless lines, intuitively bring to life the dancing boombox-headed figure. Vibrant energetic lines radiate from the figure’s body, creating the illusion of movement synchronized with the beat emanating from the figure’s head.

Haring's art was profoundly influenced by the rhythmic energy of the NYC club scene and street culture, including breakdancing and hip-hop. He sought to capture the raw energy and freedom inherent in these movements. His compositions, much like in Untitled, feature dancing figures with expressive gestures and dynamic lines evoking a feeling of rhythm and uninhibited freedom. This piece not only showcases Haring's technical prowess, but also his ability to convey the vivacity of urban life and culture through his art.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the boombox became a symbol of youth culture, urban identity and street life. It was also a metaphor for the spread of mass culture and the growing omnipresence of recorded sound. That sound was amplified by the rise of MTV, the Walkman, and electronic media, which blurred the lines between private listening and public performance. Haring was fascinated by how technology could both empower and dehumanize, turning people into vehicles of amplification and repetition.

His boombox-head figures often look celebratory — dancing or raising their arms — but they also carry a hint of critique: that in an era of mass broadcasting, individuality risks being drowned out. Haring’s boombox-headed figures convey both optimism about community as well as anxiety about mass culture – capturing a cultural moment when technology, music and identity were in flux. The fascination and the concern remain visually and conceptually relevant in today’s era of ubiquitous social media presence and 24-hour news cycles.