October 1 2021: Keith Haring by JMB at City Center
In 1983, legendary Milan-based designer Elio Fiorucci invited artist and activist Keith Haring to Milan to turn his store into a work of art. Fiorucci stripped his 5,000 square foot store bare, creating a blank wall canvas. Haring painted the shop in 13 hours, working overnight with his friend and collaborator Angel Ortiz (LA II), accompanied by the tunes of DJ Maurizio Marisco.
When the installation came down in 1984, Fiorucci saved the panels and kept them in storage for decades. The panel installed in City Center’s Shuman Lounge—on display in New York for the first time ever—was restored by Fiorucci in 1991.
A series of portraits by Jeannette Montgomery Barron, known for her photographs of the New York art world in the 1980s, accompanied the panel just outside the Lounge.