Look Homeward, Angel

Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

Can you go home again? Every artist has peaks and valleys -- more often, troughs of despair. In tagging the recreated Keith Haring mural in NYC is his former collaborator Angel Ortiz (a.k.a. L.A. II a.k.a. Little Angel) looking forward? Or is he clinging to a past moment in order to explain his disappointment in his overall accomplishments? The pathos that seeps through the NYT story could be a product of the reporter's intention to highlight a point of view, or it could be a sad reality that Angel doesn't quite get it. Studying his tags on the Keith Haring image -- are they a contribution, a defacement, a desperate plea for recognition? Do you think they enhance, detract, play homage to Keith, or attempt to stand on his shoulders for another moment?

On the other hand, on whose shoulders did Keith Haring stand? Or does his estate stand now? Is it the artist or the machine that oppresses Mr. Ortiz?

Appropriation, collaboration, exploitation, merchandising. Haring was a very young man when he first began working with Ortiz. At 22, he was barely 9 years older than the teenager. His education may or may not have illuminated all of the ethical implications of collaboration, much less with one so young. Could he have predicted the impact that his meteoric rise would have on someone who came from such disadvantaged circumstances? Would he have approached it differently if he could? In truth, didn't more artists in the 1980's echo Haring's motifs than did Haring echo Angel Ortiz?

An artist has no right to recognition or appreciation, right? Ars gratia artis after all -- tag that!

My Picture Made in the Keith Haring Coloring Book

On another note, it is interesting that the Haring Foundation website warns against access by children, at the same time that their focus is continuing his work with children. So they have a separate kids site, which has some neat features, including this interactive coloring book in which I pay homage to LA II's tagging of the Keith Haring mural. But when you think about it, isn't it strange that Haring's work is childlike and appealing to children, while often being pornographic?

Little Angel Was Here: A Keith Haring Collaborator Makes His Mark

Flickr Slideshow of Pornographic Keith Haring Bathroom Mural

Keith Haring Aztec Artist Kids Flash Projects

Keith Haring Foundation