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PHOTOS: Kenny Scharf’s 'Karbombz!' Enlivens a Sea of Boring Cars in L.A.

Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe
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Editor's note: This article has been updated with photography from the car parade.

Kenny Scharf’s “Karbombz!” don't go boom. You won’t hear them, but they’re combustible eye candy in a sea of monotone automobiles. “Karbombz!” feature Scharf’s trademark comic psychedelic faces, some stretched by speed, adorning a side panel or spread over a hood. 

This weekend, Hollywood and West Hollywood are preparing for a whole minefield of “Karbombz!” — fifty of them ranging from the beaters to the bespoke, in a parade beginning at San Vicente and Santa Monica Boulevard from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m on Saturday, September 26. It will proceed along Santa Monica to Sycamore and Jeffrey Deitch gallery at 925 N. Orange Dr., where the artist’s latest project, “MOODZ” is on display through October 31.

After the show was postponed last spring, Deitch and Scharf decided the perfect COVID-friendly art exhibition would be a car parade. “It will be great to see them all together, which I never have,” Scharf says, looking forward to the event. “It’s a perfect opportunity at this time. What else can we do in L.A.?

He started “Karbombz!” in 2013, when he was painting a mural in Alabama and someone drove by and said, “Hey, will you paint my car?’ I was like, oh sure,” the artist recalls. He then posted a picture of the car on Instagram along with an offer to paint any car for anyone who requests it. Since then, he counts roughly 260 cars around the world. 

Kenny Scharf and Jeffrey Deitch inside a car during the "Karbombz!" car parade | Jordan Riefe
Kenny Scharf and Jeffrey Deitch inside a car during the "Karbombz!" car parade | Jordan Riefe

“It's something I do for free. It’s a public art project. It takes me twenty minutes,” he shrugs. “I grew up here, and I always got excited when I saw the lowrider cars all painted amazing, when I see surfer air-brushed vans, anything that has decoration and usefulness. It definitely improves the boring madman traffic jams.”

Click right and left to see some scenes from the "Karbombz" car parade:

Kenny Scharf bombing a car September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Kenny Scharf bombing a car September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
1/17 Kenny Scharf bombing a car September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A blue car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A blue car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
2/17 A blue car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
3/17 A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A smiling face painted by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A smiling face painted by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
4/17 A smiling face painted by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
5/17 Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
6/17 Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
7/17 Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
8/17 A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
9/17 A car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
10/17 Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
The hood of a white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
The hood of a white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
11/17 The hood of a white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A black car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A black car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
12/17 A black car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A jeep participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A jeep participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
13/17 A jeep participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
14/17 Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
15/17 A white car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
A car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
16/17 A car participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020. It's parked outside Jeffrey Deitch gallery. | Jordan Riefe
Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020. It's parked outside Jeffrey Deitch gallery. | Jordan Riefe
17/17 Cars participating at Kenny Scharf's "Karbombz!" car parade September 26, 2020. It's parked outside Jeffrey Deitch gallery. | Jordan Riefe

Click right and left to see some previously bombed cars from Scharf: 

A white van bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A white van bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
1/11 A white van bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
The back of a white sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
The back of a white sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
2/11 The back of a white sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A blue station wagon bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A blue station wagon bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
3/11 A blue station wagon bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A green station wagon bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A green station wagon bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
4/11 A green station wagon bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A green car bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A green car bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
5/11 A green car bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A beige sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A beige sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
6/11 A beige sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A Volkswagen sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A Volkswagen sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
7/11 A Volkswagen sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A white sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A white sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
8/11 A white sedan bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A black van bombed with two torpedo-like figures by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A black van bombed with two torpedo-like figures by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
9/11 A black van bombed with two torpedo-like figures by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A black van bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A black van bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
10/11 A black van bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A small gray car bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
A small gray car bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist
11/11 A snall gray car bombed by Kenny Scharf for his "Karbombz!" project | Courtesy of the artist

Kenny Scharf looking at one of his creations at the "Karbombz!" rally September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe
Kenny Scharf looking at one of his creations at the "Karbombz!" rally September 26, 2020 | Jordan Riefe

Car owners have reached out to him from all walks of life, not just friends and artworld figures, but total strangers. He is partial to white cars, because fewer layers are needed for color, and would rather paint vans because he can do it standing up. “I’ll do any car, it doesn't matter. I prefer, actually, the cheap beaters. There’s less pressure. If someone rolls up in a brand new Bentley, I might feel a little more pressure than a beat up Corolla.”

Of those he’s painted so far, some have been totalled, some marred in fender benders, but in only two cases have owners tried to remove the car doors and sell them as fine art. “It’s not about money,” Scharf explains. “Sometimes I feel like the artworld focuses too much on the art based on how much it costs. So I wanted to introduce something that’s art and it's for everyone and it has no money involved, no value.” 

A native Angeleno, Scharf studied art at New York’s School of Visual Arts and made his career in the city’s East Village scene alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, with whom he split an apartment in Times Square in 1981. He was included in the 1985 Whitney Biennial and has since been featured in one-man shows in prominent museums worldwide, including a 2017 solo show at the Hammer. 

“MOODZ” at Jeffrey Deitch gallery is a series of 250 faces painted on the walls of the space representing every mood imaginable. That’s right, Scharf has been making emojis since before there was an internet. 

“They’re very urgent,” he says of the faces painted last year and during the pandemic. “Yes, there are obvious references to the shape of the coronavirus as a virus monster. But there’s a lot of healing that I felt and wanted to convey. It ranges from the rage of a coronavirus to wanting to send healing love.”

Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe
Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe
Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe
Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe
Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe
Installation photo of "MOODZ" by Kenny Scharf, on view at Jeffrey Deitch gallery | Jordan Riefe

Top Image: West Hollywood hills street with parked cars and construction cranes on each side. | Nicolas McComber /iStock

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