LEGO Art has been expanding its output this year, from the LOVE statue, and diverting via Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, we return to Pop Art, in the Form of 31216 Keith Haring’s Dancing Figures. This 1773 piece LEGO set will go on sale on May 15 2025, with a RRP of $AUD199.99 / $USD119.99 / €119,99 / £104.99.
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an American Artist and social activist during the 1980s. I asked my design school alum daughter, Tash, to help me out with some background on the artist and his work.
“Haring is an iconic figure in contemporary art, best known for his distinctive visual language comprised of bold, stylised imagery, including his iconic dancing figure motifs.
He rose to prominence in the 1980s and was a key member of the thriving underground art scene in New York, where he befriended and collaborated with fellow artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, alongside musicians such as Grace Jones and Madonna. Haring fundamentally believed that art should be accessible to everyone, and utilised public spaces such as the subway to bring his work to a wide and diverse audience.
His work was heavily connected to socio-political themes of sexuality, war and drug addiction, and he shone a light on these taboo issues through provocative murals with bold slogans.
His impact on not only contemporary art but pop culture as a whole cannot be understated, and his iconic and joyful style alongside his activist work has cemented him as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He died in 1990 at the age of 31, from an AIDS related illness. His ongoing legacy is preserved by the Keith Haring Foundation.”
“The Keith Haring Foundation makes grants to not-for-profit groups that engage in charitable activities. In accordance with Haring’s wishes, the Foundation concentrates its giving in two areas: the support of organizations which enrich the lives of underprivileged children and the support of organizations which engage in education, prevention, and care with respect to AIDS and HIV infection.“
Link: https://www.haring.com/kh_foundation/The Melbourne Connection
In 1985 Haring visited Melbourne and created a couple of works of art: One, a mural painted onto the water window of the National Gallery of Victoria, was ephemeral, only intended to be on display for 3 months, but was removed earlier following an act of vandalism.
Another, on the Wall of the Collingwood Technical College (now the Collingwood Yards arts precinct), remains today.
AS you can see in the photograph above, the figures are each a bold colour, surrounded by a heavy black outline. small lines suspended near the limbs of the figures conveys a sense of motion. This style of art demonstrates some interesting techniques for tiling and solving the geometric challenges posed by the shape of the figures.
Here’s the formal press copy…
Create a brick-built version of one of the art world’s most famous motifs with the LEGO® Art Keith Haring – Dancing Figures (31216) building kit. Inspired by pop art icon Keith Haring’s dancing figures, this stunning LEGO reimagination brilliantly captures the bold lines, vibrant colours and distinctive sense of movement and energy. This building set for adults provides an immersive project as you assemble the home decor idea from 1,773 LEGO bricks. It comes with 5 building instruction booklets, 1 for each of the 5 figures, so you can enjoy a social experience and create this piece of pop art with friends or family members. Once it’s built, you have 2 display options and can either hang your frameless LEGO Keith Haring artwork on a wall or connect each figure to a stand and showcase them as you like – the 5 figures are separate models so you can choose their order and how many you want to display. The set makes a special treat for yourself or a creative gift idea for any art lover.
This vibrant style looks just perfect for a LEGO Build, and I am intrigued to see how the actual shapes of the figures are achieved. This is another new direction for the LEGO Art theme, which certainly seems to be broadening its collection of styles depicted in brick form.
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Until Next Time,
Play Well!
