Keith Haring Journals (31 page)

Prince was incredible. I was really impressed. It was a big change since I saw him at the Palladium in 1981 or ’82. The whole show (lights, sets, costumes, etc.) was really tight, really sexy, and really good. A lot of people in the audience recognized me, since I’ve been in the papers and TV here lately, and asked for autographs.

Wake up late. Meet with Tony quickly about final money arrangements. Arrange a flight to London at 5:00. Clean up the Dragon, which looks and feels like we’ve been living in it for a year. We take the car to drive to Brussels and leave it at the airport till we return from London. It seems London is “chock-a-block” full of tourists for Wimbledon, etc., so we’re stuck in this 42nd Street fleabag hotel. We see a theatre that is showing
Prick Up Your Ears
, the movie about Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell. Since I’ve read Orton’s diaries, I’ve been dying to see the movie, and what better place than London!

So, we go see the movie and it’s really great—hilarious and tragic at the same time (exactly the same time).

After the movie we ask two queens in the theatre about gay discos and I ask if Heaven is still open. They tell us where Heaven is. We go out and walk around a little and eat at a gross steak house. Disgusting food. Very English. We take a taxi to Heaven. It is almost the same as I remember it, big and gay. We hang out, sort of bored, until me and Alex notice these two guys cruising Juan. They’re sort of cute in an old sort of way. Muscular, but a bit tired. After seeing how dismal the rest of the scene is, we decide to talk to them. They suggest a tour of London. We drive around a little and smoke some hash. It turns out they are strippers, which accounts for their physique, and we become a little more interested.

After we finally suggest a striptease at our hotel, they quickly agree that it is a good idea. So we all go to our fleabag hotel, push the double beds together, and have safe sex until the sun comes up (one hour later). We ask them to leave so we can sleep, since they said they couldn’t stay, and the cuter one gives us an 8ʺ × 10ʺ glossy of himself from his audition book.

Sort of amusing for London and even more amusing considering this is the only sex we’ve had on this trip so far, besides with ourselves, of course.

Check out of hotel and go to the ICA. See the show, “Comic Iconoclasm.” Lots of interesting pieces in the show, but something is missing. Maybe it has something to do with the exhibition space itself: it just doesn’t work. The idea of the show is great, but it is muddled by too many inferior pieces. If it were more selective I think the strength of the idea would be more clear. The show makes the idea look a bit trivial.

We eat lunch and prepare the room for the workshop. Apparently they are only expecting about 20 kids—hardly worth a trip to London. But it turns out O.K. Nice kids and a few groupies. I do a quick interview for the ICA video. We catch a plane back to Brussels at 7:00.

Wake up late. Lots of people around the house. Spend the early afternoon drawing. I did seven drawings I owe Roger: a kind of series about butterflies, cocoons, and birth. Then I did four vases. Three for Monique and one for Emy. I used ink instead of acryllic, but I think if I cover it with something it should be O.K. It is great using ink on terra-cotta because it soaks it up really fast and makes a line like on paper. I do some more drawings, including one for Bo and one for the widow of Hergé, the guy who drew Tin-Tin. I did a drawing for her of Tin-Tin on a dolphin, with red polka dots.

I return to the Surf Club to paint the background of the wall I volunteered to do. They have “containers” on the beach for storing equipment. The side of one container is approximately 8ʹ × 25ʹ and it is perfect for painting. Xavier scraped and sanded it and I rolled on a white primer. After hanging out awhile we return to the house for dinner.

Sign some posters for all the people who work in the house. Head toward Surf Club to start wall. Lots of gorgeous surfers hanging out waiting for wind. I begin mural and immediately attract a crowd. By the time I finish, to applause, there are 50-60 people watching. The sun is really hot and I wear sunblock and a hat. The audience is incredible. This is really summer: surfers at the beach. I only miss Avenue D a little bit. There are even Spanish-looking people here. One particularly cute kid says he is Dominican. I take lots of Polaroids of surfers and do autographs on shirts, shorts, helmets, etc., etc. Then I go with Harry-Michel on another catamaran ride, this time I take the helm. Not as much wind, but fun to be in control of the boat. We return to the beach and dismantle the sails and put away the boat. More photos.

They organized a barbecue on the beach. Really great. Sun sets at 11:00 PM. Lots more people want stuff drawn on them. Dominican kid is back again, still wearing little shorts. He can’t stop smiling and I can’t stop “rapping.” Really fun barbecue. Huge bottle of champagne for me. Really nice guys. Bruce Weber would love it here.

Make ten gouache-and-ink drawings. All the drawings at the Casino are sold, so I’m making some more before I leave to refuel the supply. I also am talked into doing two small paintings. I am a little tired of working, but somehow when I force myself I get interesting results, so it’s hard not to be curious about it. Even if I’m tired of working I can work, so why not? Really, what else is there, after all? The wife of Roger’s assistant has come to photograph me working on these two paintings and brought with her two really cute twin boys about seven years old. So somehow, with them watching me paint, both the paintings turned out to be about two’s, or twins. Should be interesting pictures. Since I have already promised it, I paint the huge vase that Tinguely did the “holder” for in the backyard. I use a big brush and it goes pretty quickly.

A lot of kids come by to visit and say goodbye and get shirts signed. I don’t know why I attract so many cute boys, but it keeps the scenery interesting. I do my final group of ink drawings. More kids come by with skateboards to sign. Play on the trampoline in the backyard. Eat another fabulous lunch by Roger. I do a big three-eyed face painting on the refrigerator for Roger with oil paint, and go with him to buy a sack for the stuff I’ve picked up. I drive to the Surf Club for goodbyes, promising to return next summer.

At the house eat another concoction by Roger—banana duck. Also fresh calamari caught this afternoon, the best I’ve ever eaten.
Life
magazine calls to say the Luna Luna article is delayed, and to ask some more questions. I go to visit the exhibition at the Casino one last time. Funny how sometimes I lose all faith and everything looks like shit to me. Luckily this doesn’t last long, or maybe it’s good it happens ’cause it pushes me further. I hope I’m never satisfied. You always have to strive for improvement.

Wake up and finish packing. Have a last fresh-squeezed orange-juice Nellens breakfast and load the car. We drive to Paris with Roger and Monique to visit Niki. So we have lunch in Niki’s backyard. We tour the house and studio. It’s full of her and Jean’s stuff. We talk about a lot of things and she gives me a lot of books, including the AIDS book she did. She also wants to design rubbers and I tell her I’ll investigate the possibilities in America and Japan since she’s had no luck in Europe. I also get the name of a doctor who is a big AIDS specialist in America. I want to investigate experimental treatment for those with positive diagnosis who do not have actual AIDS yet.

I feel more optimistic after being in Europe and I think it might be a good idea to live longer. I think I could have a great future and be very productive. Niki takes us to the forest near her house to see the “head” Jean and others have been working on for 15 years. It’s really incredible—huge and actually has movable parts. It’s better than Disneyland. You can walk inside of it and climb stairs all through it. It has a theatre and an apartment inside. I’ve seen pictures of it and have wanted to see it since Lüggenbühl’s son told me about it while we were working together at the Paris Biennale in ’85. She also takes us to see Jean’s house where she used to live also. It is a really old (medieval) castle with sheep running around outside. We return to Niki’s house and meet Marcel Duchamp’s step-daughter-in-law, who is also Matisse’s granddaughter.

Taxi to airport. Concorde to New York.

We’re boarding Flight 002 leaving Kansas City for La Guardia Airport. We just left William Burroughs’s friend’s house outside of Lawrence, Kansas, where we were shooting guns. It’s the first time I ever shot a handgun.

We arrived here Friday afternoon after traveling back to New York City by bus on Friday morning from Kutztown. I had my preview of the first exhibition I’ve ever had in my home town, Kutztown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday night. We hung the show, a small painting retrospective, 1981-87, at James Carroll’s studio on Main Street.

The opening was a pretty funny thing. There was a phenomenal amount of people. I autographed posters for about two and a half hours non-stop. There was a constant line of people for the entire opening, many college students, mostly female. My grandma and Mandy came and some uncles, aunts and cousins. Some school friends, grown-up with kids. Some town people and old teachers from elementary and high school. My one cousin came with an adorable friend I didn’t even have time to shake hands with. There were reporters from the
Reading Eagle
,
Morning Call
and the local paper, the
Patriot
. A group of barefoot surf-looking cute kids brought me a Gumby (six-foot) to autograph. I quickly gave him a huge, mounted penis. My mother liked that.

There was also a bunch of really cute little kids who wanted drawings and autographs. All in all it was really fun and more hectic than I expected.

The following morning we took a Bieber bus at 7:00 AM to New York City, took a subway to the studio, and caught a taxi to La Guardia.

We arrived in Kansas City and were picked up at the airport at 3:30. After a short tour of Kansas City we headed to Lawrence. The first person I saw as we arrived was Matt Dillon. He’s in Lawrence shooting a movie. We heard local “Matt Dillon stories” for the next two days while we were here. Mostly about his seduction of local teenage girls (true or false), who cares?

Talking to Matt in the corner and Jim Carroll, who was on our flight, and Anne Waldman. A car turns the corner and someone yells, “Hey, Keith!” It’s Allen Ginsberg arriving for the opening of his photo exhibit down the street. We go to the show, kiss Allen, he walks me through the show. Some photographers and video crews, including a German photographer from
Stern
who I know from Area. Start meeting local college students. Turns out Lawrence is the home of University of Kansas. It’s a pretty hip campus. Lots of art boys hanging around. Someone in the gallery asks me to do a chalk drawing on the front sidewalk. I oblige, doing a drawing for Allen. Allen writes an adjoining haiku to go with the drawing.