Kenny Scharf

Janis Savitt, Keith Haring, Dianne Brill,
and Kenny Scharf, 1987

Kenny Scharf in his studio, 2012

Kenny Scharf was born 1958 in Los Angeles California. He is an American painter who now lives in Brooklyn, New York. He received his BFA at the School of Visual Arts in 1980. Scharf’s work became well known in the 80s art scene due to his monstrous pop culture based paintings and installations. He is very much inspired by animated cartoons that he watched as a child such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons.

Scharf was a key figure in the 1980s East village art scene. He held shows at the Fun Gallery (1981) and tony Shafrazi (1984) and now museums such as the Whitney, Monterrey Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Queens Museum of Art have embraced his work. He has collaborated with Keith Haring, Scott Ewalt, Joe Grillo and Laura Grant of Dearraindrop, and many other influential people.