Keith Haring Free South Africa For Sale

Untitled 1-3 is a portfolio of three lithographs produced by Haring in 1985. Known as Free South Africa, it gives a powerful insight into apartheid, racial segregation in South Africa that was still ongoing in the 80s. As an artist renowned for his social and political activism, Haring’s treatment of the subject shows his desire to put an end to segregation and suffering. It is appreciated as a historical work before Nelson Mandela’s address to the United Nations in 1994, through which we remember a time of institutionalised oppression that should not be forgotten. 

In each plate in the series, a black figure, with a noose round its neck, is hauled by a smaller white figure. The general reading is that the monochrome people represent the black and white segregation: the largeness of the black man represents the dominant population of black people in South Africa, whilst the white man, less dominant in number, asserts control over his fellow citizen.  

In a journal entry from 1987, Haring wrote: ‘All stories of white men’s ‘expansion’ and ‘colonization’ and ‘domination’ are filled with horrific details of the abuse of power and the misuse of power’. The artist felt strongly about racial injustice, not just in the instance of Apartheid, but in all its forms.  

As an artist living in Downtown New York, Haring was exposed to a racially diverse culture. He was particularly influenced by black and Latinx artists, such as Puerto Rican street artist Angel Oritz (known as LA II), with whom he collaborated. Whilst the artist’s privilege and at times, appropriation, should not go unnoticed, his striving for equality and ideals form the core of Haring’s work which he is continually celebrated for.