Paul McCarthy

Paul McCarthy (b. 1945, United States) has managed, since the 1970s, to shake and transgress conventional limits of taste. McCarthy uses the language and images of American consumer culture, which he mutates and disturbs, in order to question western society taboos. McCarthy became known for his installations which often involved food, bodily fluids and his own body. Later on he began creating sculptures from rubber which often caused public outrage due to their overt sexuality which some viewers found offensive – for example, a sculpture showing President George W. Bush engaged in intercourse with a pig, and a large sculpture of a green butt-plug standing in for a traditional Christmas tree. McCarthy has exhibited his work in the most prestigious artistic spaces in the world, and his works belong to important international art collections.

Related exhibition: The Towering Inferno

 

Paul McCarthy, Dwarf Head, 2000, Platinum based silicon mould

The collection