APPOART

“I’m constantly doing new stuff. I’m always excited. I’m a one-man tornado”

Kenny Scharf is an American artist known for his participation in the interdisciplinary East Village art scene in New York City during the 1980s, alongside artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

Scharf’s diverse practice spans painting, sculpture, fashion, video, performance art, and street art. Growing up in post-WWII Southern California, he was fascinated by television and futuristic modern design, which influenced the pop culture imagery and apocalyptic sci-fi settings in his works.

Artistic style:

Kenny Scharf’s distinctive artistic style, which he has dubbed “Pop Surrealism”, combines elements of pop art, surrealism, and street art to create vibrant, imaginative works.

He uses a vivid, eye-catching palette of colors, often incorporating neon shades and bold patterns. His paintings are characterized by a sense of energy and visual excitement.

His work is heavily influenced by 1950s and 60s pop culture, particularly cartoons, science fiction, and household appliances. He incorporates recognizable characters and imagery from TV shows, movies, and comics into his compositions.

Scharf combines disparate elements in unexpected ways to create surreal, dreamlike scenes. He often places familiar objects in unfamiliar settings or contexts, blurring the line between reality and fantasy.

Most important works:

Cosmic Caverns: Scharf’s most famous creations are his “Cosmic Caverns” – psychedelic, multi-sensory environments covered in fluorescent paint and black lights. The first “Cosmic Cavern” was set up in the closet of the New York apartment he shared with Keith Haring in 1981. These immersive installations envelop the viewer in a surreal, glowing world soundtracked by live DJs

Public Murals: as a celebrated graffiti artist, Scharf has created numerous large-scale public murals around the world. His vibrant, cartoonish murals often feature his signature amorphous, smiling beings along with characters from The Flintstones and The Jetsons in vivid, imaginative settings. Scharf sees these murals as a way to bring art into everyday life and surprise people in the street.

Karbombz: Scharf’s ongoing “Karbombz” series involves spraying over 260 cars with his playful, cartoonish designs. These smiling, colorful beings populate almost all of Scharf’s paintings and murals, reflecting his fascination with pop culture and the TV generation he grew up in.

Exhibitions:

Kenny Scharf is scheduled to have a solo exhibition at the Walker Art Center in 2024 that will feature his iconic “Cosmic Caverns” installations along with works by Kermit Oswald and reflections by select contemporaries of the artist.

The exhibition will likely showcase Scharf’s immersive, fluorescent-painted environments that envelop viewers in a psychedelic, multi-sensory experience.