Keith Haring: A Radiant Legacy Lights Up MoPOP with 1980s Spirit

Keith Haring (untitled) man dog lithograph, 1982. Offset lithograph, 9 × 9 in | 22.9 × 22.9 cm. (Photo: Gillian Gaar) It’s Saturday night, and people are partying like it’s 1985. It’s the opening night of the exhibition “Keith Haring: A Radiant Legacy” at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), and the evening is dedicated to conjuring up a little of that East Village spirit. Drag queens are lip-syncing to Madonna. DJs keep the beat pumping between sets; Blondie, Beastie Boys, Cyndi Lauper. A few brave attendees careen unsteadily around the dance floor on roller skates, like modern-day Rollerenas (a self-proclaimed “fairy godmother” of the 1970s and 1980s who haunted the Village by day and trendy clubs like Studio 54 by night). A retro photo op has been set up: a pay phone hanging on a heavily graffitied wall (in a bit of irony, the resulting photos are texted to your cell phone). All of it reflects Haring’s own colorful, playful style, celebrating the exuberance of the decade when he rose to prominence. “A Radiant Legacy” is a remarkably comprehensive exhibit, tracing Keith Haring’s fast-paced journey from subway graffiti master to an artist of international acclaim. There’s a copy of...