CCNY receives Keith Haring's "Apocalypse" series

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Keith Haring's Apocalypse series, including 30 distinct pieces of art, has been donated to The City College of New York by the Leonard-Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation, The Foundation for City College announced.

Haring created "Apocalypse" in 1988, at the height of the AIDS pandemic and after his own diagnosis. The screen prints are accompanied by captions composed by his series collaborator, William S. Burroughs. The complete set, including the captions, will be displayed in campus spaces to inspire discussion among students, faculty, staff, and alumni, especially members of the CCNY and CUNY LGBTQ+ communities. The art will also be available for loaning to other CUNY campuses for display, particularly but not exclusively, in their respective LGBTQ+ student centers and campus art museums.

There are currently nine LGBTQI+ Centers throughout CUNY.

"Art is often the embodiment of activism, and this is particularly true for the work of Keith Haring. The Apocalypse series is an important marker in a critical moment in the nation's history," said CCNY President Vincent Boudreau. "We are honored to receive this extraordinary donation from the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation, and we look forward to making the series the subject of courses, events, and exhibitions across campus and throughout CUNY in the years to come."

"It is very important to us that CCNY and CUNY LGBTQ+ students have the opportunity to experience Haring's Apocalypse series," said Elliot Leonard, founding trustee of the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation. "This an extraordinary series and an artifact of the pain, loss, and activism that characterized the height of the AIDS crisis. We hope it will inform discussion and debate on campus, and that the series will serve as inspiration to generations of students, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community."

"It's an honor to have CCNY and the LGBTQ+ Student Center host original Keith Haring works from his Apocalypse series," said Jake Nill, associate director of the CCNY LGBTQ+ Student Center. "I like to think that having Apocalypse within the CCNY LGBTQ+ Student Center and various LGBTQ+ spaces around CUNY will be grounding for so many of us. As Haring's work is alongside the art our students make, is on the walls right above where our students laugh and cry, and is in between the stories shared within these spaces, I like to think that this will be a warm reminder to our campus that we're not alone and that we always have community."

"The Apocalypse series captures the essence of a key moment in art and activism from the 1980s and, especially, in the struggle for rights for LGTBQ+ Americans and those with HIV/AIDS. Our students—and our entire community—will now be able to spend time with the artwork and be inspired by their messages," said Andrew Rich, Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, and a co-founder of the LGBTQ+ Student Center at CCNY. "I share my profound thanks to Elliot Leonard, Roger Litz, and the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation for this donation and for their ongoing commitment to programming for LGBTQ+ students across CUNY."

The official opening of the exhibit will take place on March 4, 2025. The event will feature a discussion of the series, and the art and activism of the 1980s in New York City.

"This donation of Keith Haring's Apocalypse is a tremendous addition to our collections. As we already have an important Haring painting, it builds on an existing strength to expand our holdings of Haring's work greatly," said Associate Professor of Art History Ellen Handy, the director of the CCNY art collection. "Haring's vibrant style and imagery perfectly captures the energy of New York City, and speak to the College's urban context and culture. The Apocalypse portfolio will engage many different constituencies within the College. These works enrich the life of the College community in many ways; they inspire and engage everyone who sees them when on view, they vividly convey the power of art as communication around urgent social issues, and they open up new possibilities for interdisciplinary dialogue."

To curate the collection and to organize the traveling exhibit, Handy will hire a graduate student who will also write a paper on the collection's history, Haring, art, and activism. Handy is also developing a new course for fall 2025, "Keith Haring: Art and Activism of the 1980s," which she will co-teach. The first interdivisional curricular collaboration between the Colin Powell School and the Division of Humanities & the Arts, the prospective course will focus on the Apocalypse series in the context of 1980s art movements, the AIDS Crisis, and artists' activism. Students will study the portfolio first-hand, learn about Haring's work as an artist and activist, and will visit the Keith Haring Foundation, the ACT UP Archive at the New York Public Library, and other relevant sites. The students' final project will be a collaborative web exhibition about Haring, AIDS activism, and Apocalypse. The project will allow the College to share the portfolio, and the students' research and creativity, with audiences beyond the City College campus.

The art will remain at the College for at least 15 years, after which the pieces may be put up for auction. Monies from the auction would be used to support LGBTQ+ programming for students at CCNY and CUNY, and will be managed by The Foundation for City College.

About the Leonard-Litz Foundation
Helping LGBTQ+ people fulfill their potential, the Leonard-Litz Foundation's mission is to fund organizations which advance the interests and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community through advocacy, programs, and services that meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people.

About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY's annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the "for dollar" return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled "Doing Remarkable Things Together" seeks to bring the College's Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.

CONTACT:
Syd Steinhardt
212-650-7875
[email protected]

SOURCE City College of New York, Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications