Born in Los Angeles, Scharf moved to Manhattan, earning a B.F.A. in painting at the School of Visual Arts in 1980. In the East Village of the 1980s, Scharf began his trademark Cosmic Caverns, immersive black light and Day-Glo paint installations that also function as ongoing disco parties. The first was known as the “Cosmic Closet” and was installed in 1981 in the Times Square apartment he shared with Keith Haring. During this period, he also had important shows at Fun Gallery (1981) and Tony Shafrazi (1984), before seeing his work embraced by museums, such as the Whitney, which selected him for the 1985 Whitney Biennial. Art scribe Demetria Daniels writing in Downtown Magazine said about his work that it… “leaves you with hope, joy, play and optimism, and a sense of love….” Recently, Scharf had a one-person exhibition at the Hammer Museum. And, in 2017, he mounted “BLOX and BAX”, his latest one-person exhibition at Honor Fraser Gallery in Los Angeles (his fifth with the gallery). Also in 2017 his work was featured in the large group exhibition “Fast Forward: Painting From the 1980s” at the Whitney Museum. Scharf’s work was included in the October 2017 exhibition “Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.