Summary
- Kenny Scharft presents his largest solo exhibition Emotional at MAM Shanghai on June 28
- It features artwork spanning five decades of his career and an immersive “Beach Club” installation
- The exhibition will run until October 8, 2025
Kenny Scharf’s largest solo exhibition to date, Emotional, has opened at Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai, marking his China debut with a sweeping showcase of over five decades of work. Featuring more than 120 multidisciplinary pieces, the exhibition explores Scharf’s playful yet intricate depictions of emotion, expressed through his vivid, cartoonish iconography. Spanning three floors, the show invites visitors into Scharf’s world, culminating in the immersive Beach Club installation, a space designed to transport guests into the artist’s West Coast-inspired utopia.
Curated by Shai Baitel, Artistic Director of MAM Shanghai, Emotional highlights Scharf’s distinctive visual language, merging ancient pictographic traditions with modern emoji culture. His work, characterized by exaggerated facial expressions and dynamic compositions, has long examined the complexity of human emotion and communication. Organized into thematic sections – Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness and Awe – the exhibition offers audiences an interactive emotional journey. Reflecting on the exhibition, Scharf shares, “We’ve engineered a universe that brings complex realities and emotions together into one central experience.”
A standout feature of the exhibition, Kenny Scharf’s Beach Club, transforms an entire museum floor into a Venice Beach-inspired escape, blending art, nostalgia and immersive interaction. Visitors can experience paddleball games, vintage surfboards, inflatables and skateboards, all adorned with Scharf’s signature pop-art motifs. Five newly created sculptures surround a reinterpretation of Venice Beach’s iconic pink lifeguard tower, serving as the installation’s centerpiece.
Beyond the Beach Club, the exhibition also includes Scharf’s most celebrated series, such as Facial Illustrations, Cosmic Cavern and Cosmic Garden, alongside his explorations of sci-fi, animation and pop culture influences. Pieces from The Jetsons and The Flintstones series reflect his fascination with society’s evolving relationship with technology, while the Pop Apocalypse and Ecological Crisis series embody themes of environmental consciousness and surrealist pop art. Rounding out the collection, Scharf’s Art Cars, inspired by hippie movements and the “on-the-road” spirit of the ’70s, add an unconventional, mobile dimension to his work.
Opening on June 28, Kenny Scharf’s Emotional will run until October 8, 2025, at MAM Shanghai.
MAM Shanghai
4777 Binjiang Avenue
Pudong New Area, Shanghai
China, 200120
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