NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS/KINGS COUNTY
KENNY SCHARF
CITY/STATE

Brooklyn, NY
LOCATION IN HOSPITAL

Pediatric and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit Stairwell
INSTALL DATE

2013
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ABOUT THE INSTALLATION
In 2013, RxART and the artist Kenny Scharf tackled the stairwell that the children in the Pediatric and Adolescent Psychiatric Units at NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County use every day to get to school. Scharf’s exuberant, spray-painted mural is filled with smiling butterflies, happy caterpillars, singing trees, lively birds, and bright rainbows. With this imagery, the artist created an unexpected and joyous world for the pediatric patients to encounter every day during their transition from the hospital to their classrooms.
This project was made possible through the generous support of Kiehl’s Since 1851.
ABOUT THE HOSPITAL
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County is part of an integrated healthcare system that includes hospitals, neighborhood health centers, long-term care facilities, nursing homes, and home care services. With over 627 beds, NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County remains on the cutting edge of technology and provides the most modern procedures with state-of-the-art equipment. The hospital operates as a world-renowned Level I Trauma Center, one of the only three in the borough, which serves 2.6 million residents of Brooklyn and Staten Island.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958, Los Angeles, CA) received his BFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts in 1980. Originally a street artist who was part of the East Village art scene in the 1980s alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Scharf’s art continues to retain the spirit of this medium. His bright, playful imagery borrows from cartoon influences, which he uses to form science fiction-inspired, surreal pictures that stimulate and excite the viewer’s imagination. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Scharf’s works have been shown in exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Queens, NY; the Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY; and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA. His work can also be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Broad, Los Angeles, CA; and the Bass Museum of Art, Miami, FL.
