This book by cult artist Kenny Scharf reveals his latest body of works entitled “MOODZ.” Comprising 350+ circular paintings of faces—each one different—this comprehensive ensemble gives form to a population of moods, feelings, expressions, and colors. Who are the characters depicted on these multiple canvases? Scharf explains they all reflect aspects of his own personality. Some days he needs to release his aggressive energy and they may reflect his anger. Other faces reflect his exuberance and love of painting.

Kenny Scharf is an American painter. He was born in 1958 in Los Angeles, California, where he currently lives and works. In 1978 he moved to New York to study at the BFA School of Visual Arts from which he graduated in 1980. He befriended artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Keith Haring, and gained notoriety in the 1980s in New York for bridging contemporary art and graffiti. Scharf uses images from popular culture, especially from TV cartoons such as The Jetsons, The Flintstones, and The Simpsons, to bring art to everyday life. His art highlights a kind of eternal youth, a utopic colorful pop world full of comical monsters, floating donuts, and one-eyed creatures.

The “MOODZ” series was exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch’s Los Angeles in summer 2020, following an earlier version presented by Lio Malca in Ibiza during the summer of 2019.