Acrylic and ink on cardboard

81.5 × 102 cm. 32 1/8 × 40 1/8 in.

Signed in English and dated on the reverse
EXHIBITED
30 Oct – 14 Nov 2020, Show me the Signs Charity Auction Exhibition, Blum & Poe Gallery, Los Angeles

PROVENANCE
20 Nov 2020, Artfizz Show me the Signs Online Charity Auction
Acquire directly by present important Asian collector from the above

The Color of Life That Never Compromises
The Legendary Continuation of the American Graffiti Master

“A very important and guiding principle of my work is to transcend the elitist boundaries of fine art and to establish a connection with the pop culture through my art. My personal ambition has always been a practical example.”
——Kenny Scharf

This year, with the works of Jean Michel Basquiat, KAWS, and Banksy setting high price records in the auction market, graffiti art has become a favorite of global street culture and collectors in the new era. As one of the pioneers in this field, Kenny Scharf has become the focus of attention in recent years. In 2017, he plays an important role at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and in the “large-scale group exhibitions of the 1980s” at Whitney Museum. Since 2020, he successively receives the cross-border cooperation invitation from Dior, becoming the vane of cultural trends.

The New York Legend of the 1980s

In 1978, Scharf moved to New York out of admiration for Andy Warhol. He entered the School of Visual Arts and met Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. In 1980, the three founded the art space Club 57 in East Village, New York, using graffiti to bring pop art to the streets, setting off a new aesthetic revolution. As one of the first artists to inject street culture into the mainstream of contemporary art, Scharf's works have been collected by large art institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Scharf's inspiration comes from cartoon characters from childhood memories. In the 1960s when he was a child, television appeared in the daily life of the Americans as a new kind of entertainment. The lively cartoon characters on the screen have become synonymous with popular culture of this era. While Scharf was fascinated by the cartoon, the creative process of the graffiti in the subway station deeply attracted him as well. He once said, “At the beginning, I couldn't understand it. I just thought, oh, this is incredible. It's so clean and tidy. I am fascinated by it and indulge in it.” Therefore, he combined cartoon characters with graffiti and established his unique artistic style.

In the Spirit of Graffiti, Singing the Song of Equality and Freedom

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”
——Ernest Hemingway

On March 13, 2020, three police officers from Kentucky accidentally shot and killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American woman. Only one of the officers was given a light ruling and received the public “support” attitude from former President Donald Trump. The verdict completely ignited the anger of the people, resulting in a protest. Scharf was protesting with the people on the street. Truck Fump! presented in this auction was created especially for this event and held by Scharf in the parade. Later, he participated in the Show Me the Signs charity auction with other 100 artists, expressing their unique political appeal of the time, “Through telling the story of the black woman, we resist the invisibility of black women.”

The protagonists in the work are derived from the two female characters Wilma and Betty in the cartoon The Flintstones. Different from the white skin of the animated characters, Scharf boldly chooses black as the skin color of the pop culture portraits in the 1960s. Then he places them in rainbow-like highly saturated colors to form a silhouette of people under backlighting, projecting a memorable and timeless image, with the statue-like and immortal spiritual appeal.

In the background, bright and lively colors inject a strong pop meaning and create an immersive effect. Scharf's super-realistic flat-painting technique presents a smoothly embedded effect like spray paint, thus retaining the spirit of freedom in street graffiti. The brushstrokes on both sides of the background gather towards the center, leaving a trail of color collision, which looks like the colorful paper sprayed on both sides of the performance stage when the curtain falls, arousing the emotional resonance of the viewers. On the left, Betty jumped up with her feet in the air, and her right hand followed the streamer to guide her forward, interacting with Wilma, adding the cartoon feature that they are good at singing and dancing. “Truck Fump” emerges between the protagonists in the form of signature graffiti, using the misplacement of letters to ingeniously combine the name of the former US President “Trump” with the bulky “Truck Fump” (unloading truck) that is often used as a garbage truck. In the warm atmosphere and saturated colors, a pun brings out the artist's dissatisfaction with the government.

Graffiti is an art form without cultural classes, nationalities, races, and artistic factions, which is transferred by Scharf from the city streets to the canvas. In the seemingly simple media and scene changes, he tells the two sides of the development of modern civilization by transcending the boundaries of elitism. With his creative art form and expression, he boldly speaks about the “equality and goodness” in the essence of art, bravely and fearlessly.

Price estimate:
HKD: 300,000 - 500,000
USD: 38,500 - 64,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 864,000