«I JUST READ EVERYTHING»

The Paris exhibition brings together Haring's small-scale works on paper from the early 1980s, his oversize paintings on vinyl tarp and his iconic sculptural works. Patrons can also see his 1985 "The Ten Commandments" series. Massive in scale -- ten panels, each seven meters high -- the works reveal the artist's radical interpretation of the Decalogue.

Despite the anti-religious themes associated with Haring's artwork, one of his most famous pieces, the "Radiant Baby" actually derives its origin from Christianity. Part of this can be explained with Haring’s own religious background. Though he was raised a Protestant, he joined the 1970s "Jesus Movement" in his youth. Its followers were known as the "Jesus People," or more commonly "Jesus Freaks", where their message was to spread the word of Christ. Like Haring’s work, it was predominately anti-church and anti-fundamentalist.

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May 5 2013