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Gymnase du Bugnon

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Gymnase du Bugnon
Type
School
Address
Rue du Bugnon 5, 1005 Lausanne

Not open to visitors

A secondary school in Lausanne, where the artist Pierre Keller, later director of ECAL, taught.

Two artists who passed through the same classroom

16 June 1987: Keith Haring’s workshop

Pierre Keller taught here and ran workshops. On 16 June 1987 he brought in Keith Haring, who spent the morning drawing advertising posters for Lucky Strike in ink, each design having to include the brand’s logo.

He made nine, then a tenth for himself: a skeleton smoking a cigarette, which he gave to the school for Pierre Keller’s classroom. His journal notes that the man from Lucky Strike “was not amused”. The students helped him choose the four posters that were kept; he also designed a button for the school.

Keith Haring drawing the Lucky Strike posters, on 16 June 1987.
Keith Haring drawing the Lucky Strike posters, on 16 June 1987.© Jacques Straesslé

The button he designed for the school still exists: the school’s name runs above a grinning figure, signed in felt-tip down the right-hand side, “K. Haring © 87, June 16, Lausanne”.

The full account of that day, in his own words, is on his page.

David Bowie tries his hand at engraving

Pierre Keller also asked David Bowie, whom he had met through Claude Nobs, to try his hand at engraving for an exhibition held here. “During his visit, some students made off with the coffee cup he had drunk from” Keller recalls.

In pictures

Keith Haring at the Gymnase du Bugnon, in Lausanne, in 1987.
Keith Haring at the Gymnase du Bugnon, in Lausanne, in 1987.© Jacques Straesslé

Related artists :Keith HaringDavid BowiePierre Keller

See also