The Jetsons The Flintstones Keith Haring Jean Michel Basquiat paintings sculptures Kenny Scharf Kenny Scharf, born in Hollywood, California in 1958, first came to artistic prominence in the early 1980s in New York, along with artists Keith Haring and Basquiat. Scharf placed his bright imagery, drawn from television and pop culture, on the streets and in nightclubs of the city, helping to nurture a dynamic and freewheeling scene. Scharf calls his art Pop Surrealism: "Surrealism is about the unconscious, and I feel my work is about the unconscious. The images come from the unconcious except that my unconscious is filled with pop imagery. My unconscious is pop, so therefore the art would be Pop-Surrealism." Scharf is a prolific artist who has worked in many traditional media, including painting, printmaking, drawing and sculpture; he has also designed lifeguard stations, Zippo lighters, watches, cellphones, carpets and carnival carousels. Scharf has exhibited widely, including the Salvador Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, Bienalle de Sao Paolo, Brazil, Tony Shafrazi Gallery and Queens Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, and the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art. Kenny Scharf From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Kenny Scharf 1958 Born Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Nationality American Field Painting Training School of Visual Arts, New York City Works Bowery Mural Influenced Dearraindrop Kenny Scharf (born in 1958, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 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 came to prominence in the 80s interdisciplinary art scene making sparkly, pop-ed and monstrous paintings and installations. Scharf uses images from the animated cartoons popular during his childhood, such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons. In 2002, he released a cartoon of his own, "The Groovenians" of which there was only one episode. 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-52's 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 and appears in the documentary "The Universe of Keith Haring". In 2004, he appeared in The Nomi Song, a documentary about his friend, opera singer and new wave star Klaus Nomi. With Keith Haring he created the first of his blacklight disco installations, called “cosmic closet” in the closet of their Times Square apartment. That project has grown and morphed into its most recent incarnation, “Cosmic Caver” with Scott Ewalt in Kenny’s Brooklyn building’s basement where he held amazing parties in 2009 & 2010. Kenny and Dearraindrop spotted each other across a crowded Deitch Art Parade in 2005 and have been collaborating through the mail ever since. They share a love of cartoons, thrift stores and street junk, underground comics and graffiti, customized clothing, technical painting, collaging and hot glue gunning. The Fun’s Inside a film portrait of Kenny Scharf The Fun's Inside will explore the life and work of American artist Kenny Scharf whose “surrealistic pop” paintings shook up the New York art world of the early 1980s and turned him into an art star. Scharf exploded onto the scene in 1978 after moving from his native Los Angeles to New York to attend the School Of Visual Arts (SVA). The Lower East Side was a hotbed of creativity and Scharf quickly found his place within the art and club culture of the moment. He befriended a group of wildly creative, like-minded artists that included Keith Haring, Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente and Jean-Michel Basquiat who would ultimately change the face of American art. This feature film will take viewers on a journey through Scharf’s meteoric rise to art world superstardom; his relationship with mentor Andy Warhol; the appearance of AIDS, which would take the lives of so many of his closest friends; meeting his wife Tereza while on holiday in Brazil; his life as a father of two girls while juggling a career as an artist; his struggle to remain relevant in the 1990s during which time he felt as though he was being "punished for being alive", while the price of works by fallen comrades Haring, Basquiat and Warhol reached astronomic heights; and his subsequent triumphant return. Scharf is considered by many to be one of the most influential artists of the last thirty years. Now at 52, Scharf is as prolific as ever. He turns out an astonishing amount of work from his Los Angeles and Brooklyn studios, which is shown in galleries and museums throughout the world. Scharf has become a source of inspiration to a new generation of young artists and has collaborated with many of the art world's brightest new stars. In April, 2011, he will take part in the show Art in the Streets, a survey of the history of street art at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. Inside the museum will be a recreation of the FUN Gallery where Scharf had his first show in New York, bringing his career full circle. Scharf's work is part of the permanent collections of a dozen museums worldwide including the Ludwig in Cologne, the Sogetsu in Tokyo and the Whitney in New York. Though he is a serious artist, Scharf remains a kid at heart for whom fun is a religion. “I’m painting and I want people to have fun looking at the paintings. When I think, ‘what should I do next?’, I think: more, newer, better, nower, funner.” - Kenny Scharf, 1985 The Fun's Inside (1983) Director's Statement: Kenny Scharf is a true original and although his art has been celebrated for over 30 years, little is known about the man outside of his public persona. As his daughter there is a certain intimacy that I am able to share with him. This documentary film will explore Kenny's history and the context of where he began his career, who his peers were and how he became established in the art world. We will explore this time period in the early '80s with archival footage and home movies of Scharf and his family and friends. These films and videos will also include other prominent figures and collaborators, such as Keith Haring, Klaus Nomi and Ann Magnuson. The key to the film and to Kenny's way of living, is his positive attitude towards life and his art. The style of the film will capture his unique vision. The film will be a portrait of Kenny in all of the stages of his life, entering the art world, becoming a father, supporting a family, the financial ups and downs and the struggle of being an artist in the world. We have footage of Kenny in his element making paintings that will be shown in galleries and museums, and his many public art projects. Through the film you will get to know him as a human being simply surviving and doing only what he knows. The struggle of supporting a family, divorce, the loss of friends is all present and will be a part of the portrait of his life as well. Although his work looks fun and bright on the surface, there is much more that people may not see at first glance. The film will explore all facets of his art and personality. The purpose of the film is to inspire and attempt to bring art closer to everyone’s life, which is one of his main objectives. A story of a man who never gave up and still hasn’t, and the beautiful struggle of living in the world as an artist. The struggle of life is something everyone can relate to. He is able to bring out the color, vibrancy, and attitude that I believe we all need to have. It is moving to see Kenny paint a huge public mural, like that on Bowery and Houston in New York. To witness his art's ability to affect people's moods and emotions, or simply evoke a smile. This would be the first feature film on Kenny and it is a way for me to get to know my dad and his work even more. I want to share the unique point of view I have as knowing him as human being and father. I am honored to be making a film about the most inspirational person that I know. Kenny is more active than ever, or should I say as active as always. We are documenting things that are happening now. At this point in his career he is able to reach more people than he has ever reached before. The film will exhibit the incredible passion and discipline he makes his art with. It is about a person surviving in every way through art. There are few artists who were born knowing nothing but to create and Kenny is a rare example. This is something I want to share with those of my generation. - Malia Scharf Development: Shooting for this project began more than three years ago. Although we've been limited by time and financing, we have been able to collect many hours of excellent footage. Scharf has given us incredible access to his personal life and art making for the purposes of documenting.