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 uses images from the animated cartoons popular during his childhood, such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons. The reason Scharf uses cartoon images in his art work is to bring popular culture into the fine arts. Scharf wants to see how far he can push the line between high and low art Lowbrow. Scharf to this day is making artwork that makes the viewers think about where the line is and how far has the artist pushed it. 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. He is currently working on an animated film series in Hollywood.
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.”
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