by Melissa Feito

The Church of the Ascension in Manhattan has sold an iconic mural by the late artist Keith Haring for a whopping $3.9 million. The church’s pastor, Fr. Daniel Kearney, hopes this sale will keep the doors open for this LGBTQ-affirming Catholic Church.

Keith Haring was known for his graffiti and pop art depicting bright and cartoon-like silhouettes, a body of work that became closely associated with the early AIDS crisis. Haring died of AIDS-related complications at the age of 31 in 1990, after a brief but powerful career as an artist.

Haring, a gay man, had a complex relationship with Christianity himself. Deeply influenced by the evangelical Jesus Movement as a child, religious imagery continued to appear in his art throughout his career, though he no longer considered himself religiously affiliated. Most notably in his “tag”(a small image on his art identifying it as his) during his early years, a small outline of a baby with rays radiating from the figure, referred to as the Radiant Child. Read more via New Ways Ministry