COMING SOON: KENNY SCHARF AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER
NEW YORK, NY - Art Production Fund & Rockefeller Center are thrilled to present a major new public art installation by artist Kenny Scharf entitled Scary and the Dancers!, opening on October 9, 2026. Anchored by a 34-foot-tall inflatable creature, a wide-eyed figure rendered in Scharf's signature hot-orange and cobalt palette, the installation will bring the artist's fantastical world to the heart of Midtown Manhattan. This installation marks the artist's largest sculptural commission to date.
Known for his exuberant, Pop Surrealist style, Kenny Scharf has spent four decades merging cartoon-inflected imagery with contemporary art. This major installation brings that visual language into inflatable, monumental form. Halloween at Rockefeller Center gives Scharf’s exhibition its perfect stage, channeling the mood of the season through Scharf's singular artistic lens.
The towering sculpture “Scary” reimagines the Halloween lawn inflatable, the iconic seasonal decoration, as public art. The use of inflatable as sculptural material connects to Scharf's own practice of transforming cartoon and consumer imagery into contemporary artworks. Six "dancing" sculptures encircle the main figure, inspired by undulating air-dancer inflatables commonly found in car dealerships and gas stations.
The inflatable installation is sited at Center Plaza, making the monumental sculptures visible to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who pass through the complex every day. The installation will remain on view through November 1, ahead of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree’s arrival on November 7.
The exhibition will extend beyond the plaza to include mural and sculptural installations as part of APF’s ongoing Art in Focus program. Visitors will discover Kenny’s vibrant imagery in lobby spaces of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, and 50 Rockefeller Plaza. Three vitrine spaces in the lobby of 45 Rockefeller Plaza transformed into portals of Scharf's universe, including an installation of his iconic Cosmic Cavern.
High above the plaza, Scharf will also present over one hundred artist-designed flags to line Rockefeller Center’s iconic flagpoles, extending his signature imagery across the campus.
A month of free programming accompanies the exhibition, headlined by APF’s signature Art Sundae children’s program on Saturdays October 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st from 10am-12pm each weekend. Inspired by Scharf’s work, children are invited to paint planters with playful characters and colorful designs. Each one-of-a-kind creation will house a plant and will be placed inside a fantastical Sunshine Cavern designed by Scharf, on view publicly at Rockefeller Center.
Programming on Saturday, October 10 will also include a special live drawing session with the artist himself, staged high above the city at Top of the Rock.
“I’ve always believed in the power of public art. It is a great honor to be able to showcase my art at a grand public space like Rockefeller Center, one of the most famous locations for public art in the world! I’ve been making public art my whole career, whether it be murals, sculptures, cars, or performance. This is definitely a culmination on a grand scale. I hope to inspire,” - KENNY SCHARF
“It’s an honor to bring Kenny Scharf to Rockefeller Center. Scharf is an internationally recognized figure whose career began in New York City’s 1980s Pop graffiti movement, and has developed a distinctive visual language over more than four decade long career. His site-specific works throughout Rockefeller Center offer a dynamic intervention within this iconic city landmark, immersing its diverse audiences in Scharf’s vibrant Pop Surrealist world,” added CASEY FREMONT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ART PRODUCTION FUND
"For almost a century, Rockefeller Center has served as a stage for ambitious public art that surprises, inspires and brings people together. Kenny Scharf's imaginative installation continues that tradition on an extraordinary scale, transforming the campus into a vibrant, playful world for New Yorkers and visitors to explore. We are especially excited to pair the exhibition with our signature free programming, inviting families and young artists to experience Kenny's creativity firsthand throughout the Halloween season." - EB KELLY, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR AT TISHMAN SPEYER AND HEAD OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER
Kenny Scharf (b. 1958, Los Angeles, CA) is a renowned contemporary artist and was a prominent figure in New York’s 1980s East Village art movement. Alongside contemporaries Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, Scharf helped shape the downtown art scene with a distinctive visual language blending popular culture, cartoon imagery, and imagined anthropomorphic creatures. His multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, murals, performance, and fashion as well as collaborations with brands including Hot Wheels, Dior, and Swatch. Since his inclusion in the 1985 Whitney Biennial, Scharf has exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Miami Center for the Fine Arts, Queens Museum in New York, Lotte Museum of Art in Seoul, Modern Art Museum in Shanghai, the Brant Foundation in New York, and Thyssen Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, among others.
ART IN FOCUS is a multidisciplinary program that showcases installations by contemporary artists inspired by the New York City landscape and contemporary life. Artists featured in the series will have their work displayed in a number of prominent and unexpected public locations throughout Rockefeller Center. Art in Focus is presented in partnership with Rockefeller Center and Art Production Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences, and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past Art in Focus artists include Joana Avillez, Hein Koh, Portia Munson, LaKela Brown, Lucy Sparrow, Angelica Hicks, Vanessa German, Ryan Flores, Genevieve Gaignard, Oliver Jeffers, Hiba Schahbaz, Sanford Biggers, Hilary Pecis, Maurice Harris, Lisa Congdon, Max Colby, Hugo McCloud, Emily Mullin, Arghavan Khosravi, Lorraine Nam, Joel Gaitan, Basil Kincaid, Dominique Fung, Debbie Lawson, Melissa Joseph, Joel Mesler, Shantell Martin, Jake Clark, Will Cotton, Greg Ito, Julia Chiang, Cynthia Talmadge, Kelly Wall and Hank Wilis Thomas.
ROCKEFELLER CENTER is a global icon in the heart of New York City. Conceived by John D. Rockefeller Jr. as a “city within the city,” the Center comprises 13 buildings connected by an underground concourse. Under the stewardship of owner and operator Tishman Speyer, the Center has become the city's most dynamic place to work, play, dine, shop, and celebrate. Rockefeller Center offers an outdoor, public museum experience with more than 100 permanent art works across campus along with rotating exhibitions and the gallery at legendary auction house Christie’s. Visitors can join an official Rockefeller Center group or private VIP tour to learn about the campus’s art, architecture, and history. For more information or to purchase tickets to attractions and programs, visit rockefellercenter.com.
ART PRODUCTION FUND is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past projects include: Elmgreen & Dragset, “Prada Marfa,” Valentine, TX; Ugo Rondinone, “Seven Magic Mountains,” Las Vegas; Jeff Koons, “Seated Ballerina,” Rockefeller Center, NYC; Zoe Buckman, “CHAMP,” LA; Raul de Nieves “When I Look In To Your Eyes I See the Sun,” Miami; Nancy Baker Cahill “Liberty Bell”, multiple cities; Sanford Biggers “Oracle”, Rockefeller Center, NYC and Hammer Museum, LA; Derrick Adams “Funtime Unicorns”, Rockefeller Center, NYC. Frieze Projects LA 2023-2026, LA. www.artproductionfund.org
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