KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
A Tender Portrait of a Colorful and Fantastical Artist by Jacqueline Bull Documentaries about artists tend to air on the moody side. They go through their often tragic upbringing, their rise to fame and their interpersonal dramas. Then they follow either all the way until their death or land on the artist in the present–dour, introspective. There is often a tone of melancholy about the artist not maintaining their superstar moment. And while this recipe, though predictable, can make compelling narratives, “Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide” joyously breaks the mold. Kenny Scharf was a prominent figure in the East Village art scene in the 1980s. He rose to recognition for his graffiti art and performance art in places like Club 57. His fame was tied to his association with contemporaries Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Scharf’s childhood in the “plastic, pop and bright” valleys of 1960s Los Angeles informs his style. He cites the movies and television (specifically cartoons) of his formative years to be inspirations and even mentions dreaming in cartoons sometimes. The film has endless footage of how he surrounds himself with his aesthetic; everything from his phone,
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his car, his television, he has painted or modified in some way. He has a particular fascination with plastic. He collects trash from beaches not because it is an environmentally-conscious thing to do, but because he finds it beautiful and uses the pieces in his sculptures. Scharf is an interesting enough subject for a documentary that if you don’t find his aesthetic particularly compelling, it is still an enjoyable watch. He is at times unintentionally inscrutable or opaque (his most stereotypical artist trait), but is overall very warm and gentle. He recalls moments from his life with buoyancy and affection. The film is co-directed by his daughter Malia Scharf; you hear her prompting him with questions at points. Their dynamic adds a touch of tenderness to the film and puts Scharf at ease as a subject. The thesis of the film is the philosophy that Scharf lives: there are no boundaries between work and family and friendship and art. This is present in the title of the documentary and the title of his piece in the Whitney Museum of
American Art, “When Worlds Collide.” For him, all elements of his life are all existing at the same time and he makes no silos for separate things. He says simply in a 1980s interview, “I don’t like to make any distinction between my art and my life.” And as a viewer, you absolutely believe him. There is no melancholy with the idea that Scharf maybe is not as prominent of a figure as he once was. The film and Scharf are joyous. He doesn’t take himself incredibly seriously or treat his work as very precious. At one point in the film a man sees the mural he is painting from a distance and is so enamored by the style that he is compelled to meet the artist. Scharf spray paints a face on the man’s denim jacket, so he can have something to take home. Scharf’s “for the people” ethic is on display here and he embodies it with ease. Documentaries about artists are compelling in part because their subjects are interesting people with compelling perspectives and this film delivers on that idea with joy and warmth. A