HBD, Mickey!
Mickey Mouse is celebrating his 90th anniversary this November (yes, it's been 90 years since Steamboat Willie), and to celebrate, Disney collaborated with notable painter and street artist Kenny Scharf to create a trippy, Disney-themed version of his signature artwork, The Cosmic Cavern. For one week only, Gallery 104 at the Minnesota Street Project has become an intense and colorful art work packed with everything from graffiti tags and computer keyboard to fans and organics materials. At the center, is the popular Mickey Mouse watch.
Photograph: Courtesy Getty Images
The multi-sensory installation was designed for the first time in the 1980s in the closet of an NYC apartment that Scarf shared with fellow artist Keith Haring. A fluorescent black light illuminated a surreal world inspired by the Manhattan clubs of the '80s (Scharf and Haring often used the closet to host their own house parties). The psychedelic interactive work became so popular that since then it has been part of solo and collective exhibitions at galleries and museum around the world.
Photograph: Courtesy Getty Images
After San Francisco, The Cosmic Tavern will travel to New York City as part of a bigger show, Mickey: The True Original Exhibition, that will also include the gigantic Mickey t-shirt artworks designed by Amanda Ross-Ho and Mickey plush toys formed into an installation by Los Angeles-based sculptor Shinique Smith.
The Cosmic Cavern is at Minnesota Street Project, Gallery 104, until September 1st.