The darker undertones hidden beneath Keith Haring's playful and graffiti-like art have always been present, long before the creation of the present work in 1988, where cynicism was at its most powerful and confrontational. His earlier works depict themes of violence, monsters, nuclear radiation, fallen angels and the crucifixion. This work was completed in the year that Haring was tragically diagnosed with AIDS, a period when the precariousness of life left visible imprints on his art. In 1988, he said that 'all of the things that you make are a quest for immortality. Because you're making these things that you know have a different kind of life'. When the dream for immortality is cut short, the artist created darker reflective imagery with greater urgency than ever before.

Screenprint in colours, 1988, on Museum Board, signed, dated and numbered from the edition of 90 in pencil (there were also 20 artist's proofs and 5 hors commerce sets), published by George Mulder Fine Arts, New York, with the artist and publisher's copyright inkstamps on the reverse, 96.5 x 96.5 cm. (38 x 38 in.)

Klaus Littmann pp. 98-109