Untitled (For Kenny) 1979

Keith Haring made this densely patterned work on graph paper, a gift “For Kenny” in 1979. I can imagine Haring in his downtown studio at the School of Visual Arts, covering the right-hand side of the paper with thousands of tiny marks. The work is so dense it’s almost hallucinatory, contrasting sharply with the cool order of the graph on the left. I wonder what Haring was thinking about as he made all those little marks. Is it a comment on the geometry of urban planning, or maybe a playful take on minimalist art? Or something else entirely? This piece feels more like a personal exploration, something intimate given to a friend. Even though it's not one of his subway drawings, you can already see Haring experimenting with repetition and surface, like he's trying to figure out how a simple line can create a whole world.