Apocalypse 5 (Littmann P. 105) by Keith Haring presents a visceral tableau of destruction and transformation, where figures and forms collide in a dense network of black outlines and saturated colour.

Created in 1988 as part of the ten-print Apocalypse portfolio, the work captures the artist's response to the social and political tensions of the late 1980s. The image centres on a dramatic interplay between organic and mechanical forms. A serpentine creature with bared fangs dominates the upper portion, its scaly body rendered in white against the off-white ground. Below, a blue cylindrical structure—suggesting both industrial machinery and atomic imagery—anchors the left side of the work, whilst vibrant green and red forms occupy the right. These colour-blocked elements pulse with Haring's characteristic energy lines, creating a sense of movement and volatility that reinforces the work’s apocalyptic charge.

The Apocalypse series marks a shift toward more compressed and symbolically dense portfolios. Here, Haring draws on a range of visual references without fixing them into a single narrative. The mechanical blue form evokes industrial and technological systems, while the serpentine figure introduces a more primal, mythic register. A yellow torso-like shape bridges these elements, its anthropomorphic presence suggesting a point of tension between opposing forces. Apocalypse 5 demonstrates Haring’s ability to organise complex visual information into a controlled and legible work. The work operates through contrast—organic and mechanical, movement and containment—resulting in an image that is direct and structurally with its intensity held within a tightly organised pictorial field.

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