Kenny Scharf is an American artist born in 1958 in Hollywood, California. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He won notoriety and fame in New York in the 1980s. He is fascinated by the surrealist and pop art movements. In 1978 he moved to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts where he graduated in 1980. He hung out with friends such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring.
His graffiti paintings are a new “pop abstract surrealism,” featuring cartoon-like images that look like aliens and that have become colorful cultural icons. Although associated with graffiti and street art his art encompasses all of these movements of 20th century art. Scharf uses images from popular culture, such as the Jetsons, the Flintstones, to bring art to everyday life. His art highlights a kind of eternal youth, a utopic colorful pop world full of comical monsters, floating donuts, and one-eyed creatures.
Scharf uses different painting techniques using acrylic, oil, spray paint, diamond dust and found objects. His artworks can be seen around the world in private and public collections such as the MoMA in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Guggenheim, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, LACMA, and MOCA in Los Angeles.
