Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life

They were pop stars, social butterflies and (self-)marketing geniuses: Andy Warhol and Keith Haring were not only two of the most famous artists of the second half of the 20th century. They also revolutionized established ideas about art and its distribution. Warhol’s pop paintings and Haring’s dancing figures are part of our collective visual memory and are still omnipresent to this day in the areas of advertising, fashion, music and film. Despite the large age gap and their different styles, the two artists were friends and companions. In New York's art and clubbing scene, they met and influenced each other—and many others besides.

With “Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Party of Life,” Museum Brandhorst presents the world’s first comprehensive institutional exhibition dedicated to the two artists. The title of the show is borrowed from the motto of Keith Haring’s birthday celebrations: “Party of Life” tells of the cosmos of the 1980s, of MTV, discos, voguing, hip-hop, New Wave and graffiti. Within this context, the exhibition traces the two artists’ friendship. It reveals parallels in their artistic identity, their openness to cooperations and community projects, and their inclusive attitude: Art and its messages should reach as many people as possible.

The exhibition shows over 120 works by Warhol and Haring, collaborations between the two as well as works realized together with artists, performers, authors or music and fashion icons of the time. Alongside key works, it focuses on film and photography, archival material as well as posters, records and everyday objects designed by the artists. “Party of Life” will open up new perspectives on both artists at Museum Brandhorst, which houses the largest Warhol collection outside the United States with more than 120 works, as well as a growing body of Haring works.