Tucked down on a quiet block of Norfolk Street (this and the blocks east of it are my favorites on the Lower East Side) is a trippy swirling public mural offering by Kenny Scharf (whose show KOLORS opened at Paul Kasmin earlier this month and remains on view until May 4). The mural, which is across from a block long school, seems somewhat arbitrary, but in fact is across the unassuming back exits of sorta-too-trendy fake pawn shop-restaurant Beauty & Essex.
The mural snakes its way up the back of the building, with Kenny’s iconic cartoony characters extending beyond the flat surface and into the brick work. The mural spot used to have a big blue piece by Hush.
