The Standard, High Line is pleased to present a new installation by Los Angeles & Brooklyn based artist Kenny Scharf in the hotel’s plaza, to coincide with his exhibition, Kolors, at Paul Kasmin Gallery, where the sculpture will continue to be on view 4 April – 4 May, 2013. Known for his commitment to merging highbrow and lowbrow conceptions of art today, Kenny Scharf is a leading contemporary artist who has exhibited widely throughout Europe, Asia, and America. Squirtz (2013) joins many other public works by Scharf around the world including his 2012 Cedars Sinai Children’s Mural, his 2011 mural at the Brooklyn Children’s Hospital, and a 2010 special project on the Bowery Mural Wall. Squirtz will be installed outdoors in the Plaza at The Standard, High Line from March 15 through April 1, 2013.
Titled Squirtz, the work is an 8-foot tall sculpture that is 6-feet deep from nose-to-nose. Utilizing Scharf’s repertoire of symbolic imagery over the last thirty years, one face of Squirtz is awestruck, in shock, and the other wears a slapstick grin—a portrayal of the ancient Greek theatrical trope of tragedy and comedy. Painted with glossy enamel, similar to car paint, Squirtz brings to light Scharf’s endeavor to overcome the barriers of elitist art by using the materials of commercial manufacture.
This spring, in addition to Scharf’s public art installation, Standard Press, Damiani, and Paul Kasmin Gallery will release Kolors, a catalogue for the synonymous exhibition. A collective imprint of Scharf’s new work for the exhibition, Kolors documents the artist’s process, providing a close look at his studio and practice. The hardcover book also features imagery of Scharf’s public murals from around the world, with recollections from renowned artists and curators, including foreword by Jeffrey Deitch.