Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles Gallery presents “MOODZ,” featuring the art  of Kenny Scharf. The solo exhibition will spotlight two hundred-fifty of  Scharf’s circular paintings of faces, every one of them different. He has been working on this project for months, painting several faces a day. He thinks of his paintings as being like people: no two are alike.

Gallery view, Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles Gallery; Photo by Joshua White. Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch

Kenny Scharf has been spray-painting faces since 1981. Furtively painting on the street, he learned to develop images spontaneously and quickly. His faces project involves intense focus. He has created an expansive body of work within a rigorous set of constraints – but with infinite possibilities.

Scharf embraces the immediacy of spray paint. His gestures use his entire body. The process is totally physical, like a dance. He paints while listening to music on his headphones, entering into a zone where his mind and body merge. His strokes follow the beat.

Spray painting is probably the most direct way to make an image. There is no possibility of correction or erasing. As Scharf says, “there is no lying with spray paint.” The accidents that happen lead to new ideas. His faces are continually morphing and evolving.

To view the exhibition, contact the gallery – for inquiries please contact Melahn Frierson at melahn@deitch.com, or la@deitch.com

On view now: August 1 – October 31, 2020

What: “MOODZ”
Where: Jeffrey Deitch Los Angeles Gallery, 925 Orange Drive, LA,
Website: https://deitch.com/los-angeles