Kenny Scharf Overview

Kenny Scharf (born in 1958, in Hollywood, California) is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular... [more]

Kenny Scharf (born in 1958, in Hollywood, California) is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular culture based shows with made up science-related backgrounds. Scharf uses images from the animated cartoons popular during his childhood, such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons. The reason Scharf uses cartoon images in his art work is to bring popular culture into the fine arts. Scharf wants to see how far he can push the line between high and low art. Scharf to this day is making artwork that makes the viewers think about where the line is and how far has the artist pushed it. Scharf was a key figure in the East Village art scene of the 1980s, with shows at Fun gallery (1981) and Tony Shafrazi (1984), before seeing his work embraced by museums, such as the Whitney, which selected him for the 1985 Whitney Biennial. He did the album covers of The B-52s in the mid-80s. In 1995 Scharf designed a room at the Tunnel nightclub in New York. Scharf was friends with the graffiti artist Keith Haring. In 2004 he appeared in The Nomi Song, a documentary about his friend, opera singer and new wave star Klaus Nomi. He is currently represented by the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York. [show less]