KENNY SCHARF

B. 1958 - Kenny Scharf spent much of his childhood watching television, not surprisingly, he credits shows such as The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and The Munsters as being more influential upon his brightly colored, phantasmagoric images than any art historical movement or style. This aside, it was inarguably Andy Warhol who determined Scharf's choice of career. Following a year of college in Santa Barbara he took off for New York to be near the Pop Art master. There he enrolled in the School of Visual Arts and befriended the likes of Keith Haring, John Sex, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, all of whom were soon to be hitting the headlines: in the art press and beyond. On graduating in 1980, Scharf and Haring moved into a loft in Times Square, where they would be roommates for two years. During this time, Scharf's penchant for customizing his immediate surroundings - decorating TVs, phones, walls, and furniture with crazy, painted patterns, toy dinosaurs and plastic baubles. Spraying mutated versions of TV icons such as Fred Flintstone all over Manhattan also raised his profile. Says Scharf: "The street recognition clicked with the paintings and people said, 'Hey, I know this guy'." In 1985, Scharf, Basquiat, Haring and Francesco Clemente all created installations for New York's Palladium nightclub: a concerted intermingling of scenes that was characteristic of the decade