Being diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, Keith Haring spent the last two years of his life creating as much art as he could. During that time, his work largely revolved around a sense of urgency to spread awareness about the AIDS crisis, and the US governments neglectful treatment of AIDS victims.

Silence = Death is widely recognised by the pink triangle that rests at the center of the print. During World War II, the Nazi regime used an inverted pink triangle to mark homosexual prisoners of the concentration camps. The geometry of the triangle was meant to symbolise a homosexual individual’s place at the bottom of the established social hierarchy. This symbol was later adopted by a collective in New York City called “Silence Equals Death” and made into a poster. The collective focused on raising consciousness about the AIDS crisis. Eventually, the Silence Equals Death project turned the rights of the poster over to ACT UP, who popularised the pink triangle symbol through their advocacy.