Kenny Scharf's 2017 Exhibition at Jeffrey Deitch Reinterprets Color Field Painting with Cartoon Motifs
Kenny Scharf's show 'Inner and Outer Space' took place at Jeffrey Deitch in New York from October 21 to December 22, 2017, offering a critique of contemporary Color Field painting. Situated at 18 Wooster Street, the exhibition showcased pieces such as Sloppy Melt (2017), where paint lines culminate in cartoonish faces. Drawing inspiration from Andy Warhol, Scharf incorporated diamond dust into his art. The display featured six faux Color Field paintings and two word paintings, including Trump Tower of Evil (2017). Additionally, relief sculptures of television tubes and assemblages of found materials were presented. Scharf's fusion of comic elements with modernist art reshapes perceptions of artists like Morris Louis, leaving a lasting impact on how modernist works are viewed.
Key facts
- Kenny Scharf exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch in New York from October 21 to December 22, 2017
- The exhibition featured paintings that reinterpret Color Field painting with cartoon faces
- Works include Sloppy Melt (2017) and Sloppy Star (2017)
- Scharf uses diamond dust, a technique similar to Andy Warhol
- Six paintings are faux Color Field, with four being large-scale
- Two word paintings reference Ed Ruscha, including Trump Tower of Evil (2017)
- Relief sculptures include TV tubes with oil painting and rhinestones and found object assemblages
- The show incorporates comic caricature, an often-excluded art form in galleries
Entities
Artists
- Kenny Scharf
- E. H. Gombrich
- Andy Warhol
- Kenneth Noland
- Ed Ruscha
- Philip Taaffe
- Barnett Newman
- Morris Louis
- Joseph Cornell
- Joachim Pissarro
- David Carrier
Institutions
- Jeffrey Deitch
- artcritical
Locations
- New York City
- United States
- 18 Wooster Street
- New York