“When I am swimming in the Ocean, I actually sometimes believe that I am a dolphin. I can hear them under the water, very high pitched, and I put my head up and they are jumping all around me. I feel very connected to Dolphins.”
Renowned artist Kenny Scarf affiliated with the 1980’s East Village Art movement in New York, developed a distinct and uniquely personal artistic style in paintings as well as sculpture, alongside his mentor Andy Warhol, and contemporaries like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring with whom he pioneered contemporary street art. Through ecstatic compositions and a dazzling color palette, Scharf Pop Surrealism presents an immersive viewing experience that is both intimate and fresh. Kenny Scharf has been collecting plastic waste from the shorelines since the 80s, often using them to form playful art installations. His understanding of plastic’s never-degrading nature and its ecological cost is reflected in this practice which made his teaming up with Parley for the Oceans a natural and much needed collaboration. The artist produced 12 individually painted surfboards with proceeds going to Parley’s Global Clean Up Network with a special focus on Tulum, Mexico: a hotspot for biodiversity where the interception of marine plastic pollution is crucial to the survival of endangered species. These surfboards unite the worlds of art and surfing as a messenger for the cause. Each is a surfable symbol and a call for eco-innovation, creativity and collaboration to protect our oceans. The surf community is equally vital to the Parley mission as the artists, as they know the oceans like no others. This project is a synthesis of a surfer’s love for the ocean and an artist’s imaginative call for change.
“Parley was born in the art community and wouldn’t exist without the enormous support of artists, curators, collectors, galleries and museums. Kenny Scharf’s contribution to Parley is a wonderful example of how an artist can use his work to create impact, his voice to encourage thousands of us to move forward and to believe that we can invent our way out of this global plastic crisis with creativity, ingenuity and passion.”- Cyrill Gutsch, Founder and CEO, Parley for the Oceans
