UFOs

Keith Haring began sketching UFOs in 1980, inspired by the stories of alien abductions and invasions from outer-space that captivated popular culture at the time. “The flying saucers looked like Mexican sombreros, but they were my archetypal vision of what I thought a mythical flying saucer would look like. The saucers were zapping things with an energy ray, which would then endow whatever it zapped with this power,” Haring once said of his UFO doodles. “Out of these drawings my entire future vocabulary was born. I have no idea why it turned out like that. It certainly wasn’t a conscious thing. But after these initial images, everything fell into place.” Throughout the 1980s, Haring continued to feature UFOs alongside his growing repertoire of iconic symbols. His flying saucers can be found zapping his pyramids, barking dogs, and radiant babies, sending a stream of electric rays across his graphic compositions.