Keith Haring painting a mural in Barcelona on February 27, 1989.
Keith Haring traveled to Barcelona where he painted a mural “Todos juntos podemos parar el SIDA” (Together We Can Stop AIDS). He did this in the drug infested Barrio del Chino, where used syringes and drug paraphernalia littered the streets. The mural was painted on a concrete buttress in la plaza Salvador Segui and contained many of Haring’s famous trademark symbols —dancing figures, snakes, hypodermic syringes and the three figures of see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil—or in this case: speak out, educate, and understand the dangers of AIDS. In his journal, he wrote about creating the mural:
“I spent five hours doing it, as I had planned. The wall had a strange inclination that made it difficult to paint, but one of the things I like about this work is the [physical] adaptability it requires. I found a posture that allowed me to paint in a homogeneous, balanced way. Some of the best photos of this mural reflect the body language and postures I adopt when painting it.”
