Furungle Portfolio is a suite of six lithographs by Kenny Scharf. Kenny Scharf | 케니 샤프 (born 1958, United States) is associated with the East Village Art movement of the 1980s in New York. At the side of his mentor Andy Warhol and contemporaries such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, with whom he invented Street Art, a term and movement of the late 20th century, Kenny Scharf developed a distinctive and uniquely personal artistic style in both painting and sculpture. In his works there are always references to popular culture, such as cartoon characters from the Flintstones and Jetsons as well as imaginary anthropomorphic creatures. Through ecstatic compositions and a dazzling color palette, Kenny Scharf presents an immersive visual experience that is both intimate and fresh. Scharf’s multifaceted practice, which includes painting, sculpture, installations, murals, performance, and fashion, reflects his commitment to creating dynamic art forms that deconstruct existing artistic hierarchies and reflect the philosophy of pop artists. But Sharp’s artistic significance goes beyond the art historical terrain of Pop Art; instead, the artist coined the term “Pop Surrealist” to describe his unique practice. His inclusion in the Whitney Biennial in 1985 marked the beginning of his international phenomenon, a reputation that continues to flourish today.

Kenny Scharf, an American artist known for his colorful, surreal, and often cartoon-like aesthetic, created a portfolio of prints titled “Furungle” that embodies his signature blend of vibrant pop art, street culture, and futuristic fantasy. This collection, like much of Scharf’s work, reflects his fascination with the absurd and the unknown, pulling viewers into a world that feels both familiar and fantastical.

The name “Furungle” itself suggests a collision of natural elements and synthetic oddities, a typical Scharf twist on everyday words. It evokes a feeling of a chaotic, yet playful, jungle—a “fun jungle” perhaps—populated with strange creatures, abstract forms, and hallucinatory landscapes. Scharf’s works often blur the lines between the organic and artificial, and this portfolio follows suit by merging fluid, biomorphic shapes with sci-fi-inspired imagery. These prints teem with life, characterized by Scharf’s signature playful creatures with bulging eyes, exaggerated expressions, and elastic bodies, rendered in bold, neon tones.

In “Furungle”, Scharf not only showcases his command of vivid color and bold design but also hints at deeper messages about consumerism, media saturation, and the escapism that defined much of the late 20th century. The prints radiate a sense of psychedelic optimism, where everything is vibrant and alive, but underneath the fun and whimsy, there’s often a critique of the overstimulation of modern life and the influence of technology and pop culture on human consciousness.

This portfolio also continues Scharf’s dialogue with his contemporaries from the New York art scene of the 1980s, such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Like them, Scharf draws inspiration from graffiti, cartoons, and mass media, infusing his pieces with a youthful energy while challenging the boundaries between high and low art.

Ultimately, the “Furungle” series stands as a testament to Kenny Scharf’s unique ability to transform the mundane into the extraordinary, making his work both visually compelling and conceptually intriguing. It is a celebration of color, movement, and the eccentric, inviting viewers to lose themselves in a surreal yet oddly comforting dreamscape.