Put On A Face, Any Face: Read An Interview of Kenny Scharf & Curator Shai Baitel

Courtesy of Roger Davies

It’s not often that an artist and a curator connect the way Kenny Scharf and Shai Baitel do. Emotional, the biggest show of Scharf’s career, didn’t come out of a typical museum timeline or curatorial trend. It came from Baitel’s urgent feeling of injustice that the art world hadn’t given Scharf the recognition he deserved, and he wanted to change that. When we spoke, Scharf joined the Zoom call straight from his studio, answering questions with a paintbrush in hand. It felt intimate and telling: Scharf doesn’t separate art from life. His world is constantly in motion, fueled by color, feeling, and spontaneity.

The dynamics between Scharf and Baitel set the tone for a conversation that highlighted the reverent partnership between them, whose collaborative spirit is at the heart of the exhibition. What initially started as an interview about an art show quickly turned into a rhythmic conversation about friendships, personal stories, timing, and how things can easily fall into place when two people believe in the same thing.

Scharf came up in the late seventies and early eighties in New York, rubbing shoulders with Basquiat and Haring, bringing a psychedelic, cartoon-fueled energy that set him apart. He paints like he’s channeling something from another planet, but also something deeply familiar and simple. Emotional is more than a retrospective—It’s a long-overdue celebration of a singular voice in contemporary art. Read more.

"Beyond The Streets" Showcases Works by the Guerrilla Girls, Dennis Hopper, Takashi Murakami, and More

BEYOND THE STREETS (BTS) is the premier exhibition of graffiti, street art and beyond, celebrating the soaring heights to which the world’s most recognizable modern art movement has risen. BTS is a groundbreaking multimedia showcase of paintings, sculpture, photography, installations and more throughout 40,000+ sq ft of industrial indoor and outdoor space. The exhibition is curated by Roger Gastman, with additional curation by Evan Pricco, Caleb Neelon, and David Villorente. Beyond the Streets is on view through through July 6 at Werkartz 1667 N. Main Street, Los Angeles. photographs by Oliver Kupper