A new TV series spotlighting the life of gay ‘80s artist Keith Haring is officially in the works. The show will be written and directed by Andrew Haigh, known for his film All of Us Strangers starring Irish actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.
The TV series will be based on Brad Gooch’s biography, Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring. Gooch will join Haigh as an executive producer, alongside Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Katy Rozelle of Working Title Television, as well as The Keith Haring Foundation.
Speaking about the project, Haigh shared that the artist’s work, “while profoundly personal, speaks to something deep in us all.”
He added, “His bold line defined a moment in time, yet his art resonates as powerfully today as it did in the 1980s.”
Referencing two of Haring’s works, Haigh continued, “‘Radiant’ is a joyful call to action, a celebration of life even in the midst of adversity and struggle… Keith’s story pulses with the unshakable belief that art can change the world. I can’t wait to join his ‘Party of Life’.”
Born in Pennsylvania in 1958, Keith Haring’s pop art became a widely recognised visual language after he emerged in the New York City graffiti scene in the ‘80s. Much of his work contained sexual imagery that became social activism as he advocated for safe sex, homosexuality and HIV/AIDS awareness.
Haring was openly gay and was diagnosed with HIV in 1987. The following year, he died of AIDS-related complications. In 2014, he was one of the inaugural additions to the Rainbow Honor Walk in San Francisco, and in 2019 he was one of 50 American “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes” inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor in New York City’s Stonewall Inn.
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