Pop Shop

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| quote = "Here’s the philosophy behind the Pop Shop: I wanted to continue this same sort of communication as with the subway drawings. I wanted to attract the same wide range of people, and I wanted it to be a place where, yes, not only collectors could come, but also kids from the Bronx. The main point was that we didn’t want to produce things that would cheapen the art. In other words, this was still an art statement."{{Cite book|last=Gruen|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJYG_vjwl5oC&dq=I+wanted+to+continue+this+same+sort+of+communication+as+with+the+subway+drawings.+I+wanted+to+attract+the+same+wide+range+of+people,+and+I+wanted+it+to+be+a+place+where,&pg=PT119|title=Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1992|isbn=978-0-671-78150-7|location=|pages=148|language=en}}

| source = — Keith Haring

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First known for his chalk drawings in the New York City subway, Keith Haring gained international recognition after a solo exhibition at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982. He continued to draw in the subways, but by 1984, people were stealing the pieces he made from the subways as his artwork became more expensive and more popular within the art market.{{Cite magazine|last=Sheff|first=David|date=August 10, 1989|title=Keith Haring: Just Say Know|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/keith-haring-just-say-know-71847/|access-date=2021-01-09|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} The increase in value of his art meant only a select few could afford to buy it, and soon people were selling imitations of his drawings.

On April 19, 1986, Haring opened the first Pop Shop at 292 Lafayette Street in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.{{Cite web|last=Lakin|first=Max|date=December 11, 2017|title=Keith Haring's 1986 Pop Shop Invented Modern Day Merch|url=https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/kzgw89/keith-haring-pop-shop-harpers-apartment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211194731/https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/kzgw89/keith-haring-pop-shop-harpers-apartment|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2017|access-date=2021-01-09|website=Garage|language=en}} Haring stated that he opened a shop for two reasons. It was something he had wanted to do since he was 10 years old, and there were so many copies of my stuff around that I felt I had to do something myself so people would at least know what the real ones look like.{{Cite news|last=Slesin|first=Suzanne|date=April 18, 1986|title=An Artist Turns Retailer|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/18/style/an-artist-turns-retailer.html|access-date=2021-01-09|issn=0362-4331}} The store was designed by the architectural firm of Moore & Pennoyer, but Haring painted the wall, floor and ceiling. The retail space was small, so the store was designed to use the space effectively. There was only one of each item on display, and a salesclerk checked off the things customers wanted to buy, then the merchandise was picked up at a counter. Haring compared the Pop Shop to a Brookstone shop, he added it was his "version of fast food or fast art.'' In addition to Haring's memorabilia, he also sold a few items by other artists. The shop was managed by Haring's friend Bobby Breslau until he died in 1987.{{Cite book |last=Gruen |first=John |url=http://archive.org/details/keithharingautho0000grue |title=Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography |date=1991 |publisher=Prentice Hall Press |others= |isbn=978-0-13-516113-5 |location=New York |pages=148, 169, 182}}

Haring's friend and mentor Andy Warhol was "a big supporter" of the Pop Shop. Haring felt the Pop Shop was "keeping ideologically with what Andy was doing and what conceptual artists and earth artists were doing: It was all about participation on a big level."

In January 1988, Haring collaborated with Japanese film producer Kaz Kuzui, and his American wife, film director Fran Rubel Kuzui to open a Pop Shop in Tokyo, in the Aoyama neighborhood. Photographer Tseng Kwong Chi recorded many events related to the creation of the Tokyo Pop Shop. The store was short-lived and closed in the summer of 1988 due to disappointing sales. Haring noted that there were "too many Haring fakes available all over Tokyo and, this time, they're really well done."{{Cite web|title=New-York Historical Society {{!}} Pop Shop Tokyo|url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/pop-shop-tokyo|access-date=2021-01-09|website=www.nyhistory.org}} When the shop closed, the painted containers that shaped the store were given to art publisher George Mulder of Berlin as a gift from Haring. The containers were restored and exhibited in Saint Tropez, France in 2005.{{Cite web|title=Keith Haring - Pop Shop Tokyo|url=https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Keith-Haring-Pop-Shop-Tokyo/21351453-keith_haring-28.10.18-catawiki|access-date=2021-01-09|website=LOT-ART|language=en}}

The New York Pop Shop closed on August 28, 2005.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=August 19, 2005|title=Artist Keith Haring's Pop Shop Closes Down|url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/12552/|access-date=2021-01-09|website=New York Magazine|language=en-us}} The store closed because the rent was increasing and the shop wasn't earning enough to cover expenses. Matthew Barolo, operations manager at the Keith Haring Foundation, felt the resources would be better spent for other projects.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=August 16, 2005|title=After a good run, Keith Haring's Pop Shop goes pop|url=https://www.amny.com/news/after-a-good-run-keith-harings-pop-shop-goes-pop/|access-date=2021-01-09|website=amNewYork|language=en-US}} Pop Shop merchandise is still available through international licensing and exhibition related projects. The Keith Haring Foundation offers Haring memorabilia through an on-line Pop Shop.{{Cite web|title=Keith Haring Pop Shop- Posters, T-Shirts, Magnet, Decals, Gifts & more|url=https://pop-shop.com/|access-date=2021-01-09|website=Keith Haring Pop Shop}} The original Pop Shop ceiling was later donated to the New York Historical Society and is installed in its entry.{{Cite web|last=Feldmar|first=Jamie|date=November 10, 2011|title=Keith Haring's Pop Shop Ceiling Rescued By NY Historical Society|url=http://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/keith-harings-pop-shop-ceiling-rescued-by-ny-historical-society|access-date=2021-01-09|website=Gothamist|language=en}}

In 2006, the exhibition Keith Haring: Art and Commerce at the Tampa Museum of Art.{{Cite news|last=Bennett|first=Lennie|date=March 30, 2006|title=The people's pop artist|work=Tampa Bay Times|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2006/03/16/the-people-s-pop-artist/|access-date=}}{{Cite web|last=Artdaily|title=Keith Haring: Art & Commerce at Tampa Museum of Art|url=https://artdaily.cc/news/15827/Keith-Haring--Art---Commerce-at-Tampa-Museum-of-Art-#.X_m43ehKhPY|access-date=2021-01-09|website=artdaily.cc|language=English}} In 2009, the shop was reconstructed as part of London's Tate Modern's exhibition Pop Life: Art in a Material World.{{cite news | first=Elizabeth | last=Day | title=Is it art, or is it a shop? Keith Haring's iconic Pop Shop is reborn as both | date=2009-09-27 | url =https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/27/keith-haring-pop-shop-tate | work =The Observer | access-date = 2009-09-27 }}

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Category:Retail companies of the United States

Category:1986 establishments in New York City

Category:2005 disestablishments in New York (state)

Category:Keith Haring