On Saturday, July 20, LongHouse Reserve will host its highly anticipated annual Summer Benefit, celebrating the theme of IMAGINATION and honoring distinguished artists Tony Bechara and Kenny Scharf. Esteemed philanthropist Estrellita Brodsky and renowned artist Randy Polumbo will present the awards, respectively. LongHouse Director Carrie Rebora Barratt commended Kenny Scharf for his contributions to culture and celebration of comics, amusement, and the underground while highlighting Tony Bechara’s dynamic, meticulous paintings and his lifelong dedication to promoting Latin culture in the arts.
“We are recognizing Kenny Scharf for his contributions to culture and his celebration of comics, amusement, and the underground,” said LongHouse Director Carrie Rebora Barratt, “and Tony Bechara for his dynamic, meticulous paintings, and a life devoted to promoting Latin culture in the arts.”
We talked to Scharf to learn more about his life, art journey, and this honor.
Growing up in post-World War II Southern California, how did the futuristic promise of modern design and television shape your artistic vision?
I’d say it’s shaped it a lot. Growing up, everything around me, my first vision, was cars, tail fins sitting or not sitting. Just looking at all the cars, their faces, they all have faces even more. I see them today, but even more extreme back then. And then all the architecture going on, and the colors and the clothes, everything was fantasy, futuristic vibe. And so, when I got a little older, the seventies clicked in, and it became a beige, avocado, green kind of rough-colored world of design and different architecture, brutalism and just things that were not so much into fantasy as car designs were no longer so intense and crazy. They were just getting boxy, and everything seemed to be getting kind of boring to me. So basically, I decided that I was going to keep the excitement going. I was just going to do it myself.
Can you share some memorable experiences from your time in the East Village art scene during the 1980s alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring?
You know, we were young, and we lived very fast and extreme. It was a very explosive time with everything going on at the same time. The village, the music scene, the art scene, the performances, it was all together. And the neighborhood was pretty much inhabited by three groups. I guess they would be the Ukrainian Polish community. Then there would be a Puerto Rican Dominican community. And the rest were the mixture of all the artists, the young artists, Bohemians, I guess you could call them. So, everything was in a few blocks’ radius, and everything was going on all at the same time. I mean, walking into a place and seeing someone make a painting, and then you turn the corner and someone is playing the stacks and someone else just got this crazy look going, the fashion people. And it was like that, very colorful.
Your work spans various mediums, including painting, sculpture, fashion, video, performance art, and street art. How do you decide which medium to use for a particular project?
It’s basically decided by the project itself. So, if I’m doing a mural, most likely, I use spray paint because it’s very fast and expressive. Then, I would do oil paintings, which is more of a traditional technique. Each thing you’re doing dictates and gives you the message of what you should be using. And sometimes they all come together – spray paint, oil paint, performance, video, mural making, all of it can collide into one project too, so there are no rules.
Pop culture figures like the Flintstones and the Jetsons often appear in your work. What draws you to these characters, and what do they represent in your art?
I was a child when the Flintstones and the Jetsons were new shows — and I identified with them for a lot of reasons. I lived a pretty typical suburban life as a child in the San Fernando Valley. And they’re based on this kind of Leave It to Beaver family cartoon style, except that one was in the future, and one was in the past. So, not only did it relate to the world that was being presented to me as the one I lived in, but it was about these concepts, the future, and the past, which pretty much still rule my psyche. I’m very interested in both the future and the past and then the combination of the two. They’re big concepts, you think, “Oh, it’s a fun little piece of cartoon,” and I love the color and the drawings that were made, the fantasy, everything appealed to me, but also the concept itself.
Your art frequently features caricatures of middle-class Americans in apocalyptic science fiction settings. What message are you conveying through these themes?
I mean, growing up, once again, in the typical suburban American world, at the same time we were doing desk drops and drills in case there was a nuclear threat, we got to do these drills. And you’re like sitting under your desk thinking, “Really? I mean, is this going to help?” and here we are today, and we have Putin threatening that, and the concept is just beyond terror. It’s there all the time in my life.
How does it feel to be honored by LongHouse Reserve for your contributions to culture and your celebration of comics, amusement, and the underground?
Well, I mean, honored! Literally honored to be honored. I don’t know how comfortable I am all the time in that position. I just love making art and I’m thrilled that people love what I do.
Can you walk us through your creative process when starting a new piece? How do you balance spontaneity with meticulous planning?
Lucky for me, I don’t have to think about it much. I never get writer’s block, it’s basically like a flow. It’s coming in, and you’ve gotta get it out, and that’s been my whole life.
This year’s LongHouse Benefit theme is “IMAGINATION.” How does imagination play a role in your work, and how do you keep your ideas fresh and innovative?
Well, imagination is pretty much everything. Everything, every moment. Expanding your mind, inspiring others, giving people a window to the imagination. Most of the things that I do, especially lately, I don’t make a drawing beforehand. I just do it. And it’s just things that are in your head, and you want to see them clearly. So, you take a picture of it.
How important is community to you in your artistic journey, and how do you hope your work impacts those who experience it?
Community is everything, not just in my life — I think everybody needs community. We’re not here completely alone. We depend on people, and the people depend on us, and we have to share; that’s just the way it is. And as far as affecting the community around me, one of the big things that I like to do is big murals in the street, or painting cars or things that affect people that normally aren’t looking for art, but it’s just kind of confronting them. And I like to inspire people in the everyday grind of life, not just going to a museum, which is great. Bringing them into just everyday life. I like the idea of that. Everybody could get to look at it.
What upcoming projects or themes are you excited to explore soon? Can you give us a sneak peek into what’s next for you?
I have a show at the David Totah Gallery in New York on September 5. Also, at the Brant Foundation, October 3. The Totah show are new paintings, and the Brant Show is mostly older things from different time periods. It’s not a retrospective, it’s a little bit of a survey, I guess.
The benefit includes an online art auction with works from various renowned artists. Can you tell us about the piece you contributed and what inspired it?
I’ve been doing a series of round spray paintings from a group called Moodz. It’s M-O-O-D-Z. And basically, it’s emotions using expressions and color and it’s all spray paint, and they’re very gestural. They’re gestural and quick and spontaneous and fun. And I chose one that I thought would be an easy seller.
This event also honors Tony Bechara and includes presentations by Estrellita Brodsky and Randy Polumbo. How do you view the importance of such collaborations and recognition within the art community?
It’ll be fun to be with this great group and to be celebrated together.
Individual tickets for LongHouse Reserve’s Summer Benefit start at $1,500. After-party tickets are $175. For more information, visit longhouse.org.
