Colourful, cartoonish faces and figures define the unmistakable visual language of Kenny Scharf. Born in Los Angeles, he found fame as part of New York’s 1980s East Village art scene alongside his friends Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Like Haring and Basquiat, he was mentored by the Pop titan Andy Warhol, and became a pioneer of contemporary street art. His most famous works include his ‘Cosmic Caverns’: immersive, glowing painted environments soundtracked by live DJs. The first, known as the ‘Cosmic Closet’, was installed in the Times Square apartment he shared with Haring in 1981. Showing at iconic venues such as the Fun Gallery throughout the early 1980s, he shot to international acclaim after his appearance at the Whitney Biennial in 1985.
One of Scharf’s key aims is to break down the boundary between fine art and popular culture. A celebrated graffiti artist, some of his most popular works include huge public murals. For his ongoing ‘Karbombz’ series, he has sprayed more than 260 cars with playful cartoonish faces. These smiling, amorphous beings populate almost all his paintings. Characters from the Flintstones and the Jetsons also appear in alien, vibrant settings. ‘That’s where I’m from — the TV generation,’ he says. Scharf uses the term ‘Pop Surrealist’ to describe his practice, which is both uniquely personal and engaged with the wider world.
Scharf’s popularity has risen over recent years. Large-scale works from the 1980s have soared in value, and his more recent paintings are no less sought-after. Like KAWS, Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons, Scharf has collaborated with major fashion brands, teaming up in 2021 with Dior. His latest paintings explore ecological themes, inspired by his lifelong love of nature. Four decades after he rose to fame in Manhattan, Scharf’s works continue to spread their joy, colour and energy across the world. His guiding principle, he says, is still the advice he was given as a young man: ‘to paint what you love.’
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
HOT 'N SKRATCHY
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Travel Time
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Red Ball Jets and Orangetricity
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
New and Improved Thermonuclear Theater
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Jade Pea God
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
The Big Bong Theory
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Out of this World
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Marge Simpson
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Kurple
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Butterfly Jungle
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Bobby Mandala
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Judy Butterfly
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Retchmess Chunkychunky
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Mortal Time
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
BLUD 'N TAR
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Black Rubble
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
FRACKATTACK
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Slurplehead
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Bliggly
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Anti-Gravity Land
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Coney
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Fuzzurple
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Double Totem
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Camouflage
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Zlobz
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Message from Molecular Messiah
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Canyana Liquidoa
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Skribskrabz
Kenny Scharf (Né en 1958)
Figure
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
another oil painting too!
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
These Guyz
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Faceballz
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
New Frontier
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
MAD-GLAD-MAN
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Blob #5
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Perfecta Moodsky
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Infinitum
KENNY SCHARF (1958-)
SPRUNGLE , 2009
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Alive
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Speak
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Untitled
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Fresh 'N Clean
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Bird in Space
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
Power Happy
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
TURTLETOWERPOWER
KENNY SCHARF (B. 1958)
SQUIRTZ (Green)
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958)
Bublutranz