Biography from AskART:
| The art of Kenny Scharf is most widely associated with the Pop-Art movement of the late 1970's. He is known for his paintings that employ surrealistic imagery inspired by television, cartoons and the club culture he experienced during his youth.
Scharf was born in Hollywood, California, in 1958, and was interested in art as a child. His first exposure to Surrealism occurred in the 1960's when he saw a book on Salvador Dali. Around the age of twelve, Scharf took painting lessons at a local art store in Los Angeles where he learned how to paint still lifes. After high school he attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where he studied history and art. In 1978 he moved to New York City and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. It was there that Scharf met artist friends Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
During his academic years his art developed a more futuristic theme reflecting his childhood fascination with American television. In 1979 he had his first solo exhibition at Fiorucci in New York City. Scarf also engaged in many alternative artistic ventures such as performance art and group productions with his band of friends that included Andy Warhol and other artists and musicians. In 1983 Scharf held a one-man show at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York, which provided him with the level of recognition, his close friends had already experienced. Later that year his work appeared at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and in 1985 at the Whitney Biennial show.
During the late 1980's and 1990's Scharf actively exhibited his art nationally and internationally and constantly experimented with textures within his ever-evolving pop-surrealist style. In 1992 Scharf, his wife and daughters moved to Miami Beach, Florida, where he continued to exhibit his art. He eventually designed and marketed a clothing and accessory line based on his artwork, reflecting his principles of making affordable art available to the public. He continues to be a prolific artist and his viewable work is often incorporated in shows based on the art movements with which he and his well-known friends were involved.
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Kenny Scharf is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
California Painters
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