Paul McCarthy (Phaidon Contemporary Artists Series) - Softcover

Di Pietrantonio, Giacinto; McCarthy, Paul; Rugoff, Ralph

4.12

16 ratings by Goodreads

9780714835525: Paul McCarthy (Phaidon Contemporary Artists Series)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714835528 ISBN 13: 9780714835525

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 1996

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Los-Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy (b.1945) creates Disneyesque installations, sculptures of animal/vegetable/human hybrids and slapstick performances in a purge of a national subconscious. The psycho-sexual desires and anxieties induced by the media and the built environment of contemporary America emerge in his collisions of plastic prosthetic limbs and condiments that stand in for bodily fluids.

These works have been variously deployed: through live actions, often documented on video, and more recently in outsized figures and artificial rural environments, combined in overtly sexual ways. McCarthy's work echoes that of European artists such as Joseph Beuys or the Viennese Aktionistes, but gives 'action art' a postmodern twist. This is the first comprehensive survey of over twenty years of work by a profoundly influential artist whose work is in the collections of the world's most important museums.

Ralph Rugoff, curator, critic and author of Circus Americanus, has created an important critical framework for contemporary West Coast art. In the Survey he identifies key themes in McCarthy's oeuvre and sets them within a broader cultural context. Expert on live arts and co-editor of Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art, Kristine Stiles talks with the artist about his performances. Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, celebrated for his writings in Flash Art and his curating of public art projects in Italy, focuses on McCarthy's Pinocchio Pipenose Householddilemma, a nineteenth-century tale told in a post-Disney world. For the Artist's Choice, McCarthy has spliced together various fragments from Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea, creating his own non-linear rendition of this classic existential novel. The book also includes interviews and previously unpublished notes and poems towards sculptures, performances and videos.

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Review:

'The first comprehensive survey of over 20 years of work, this excellent publication explores McCarthy's Disneyesque installations and slapstick performances.' (Stills)

'The boldest, best executed, and most far-reaching publishing project devoted to contemporary art. These books will revolutionize the way contemporary art is presented and written about.' (Artforum)

'The combination of intelligent analysis, personal insight, useful facts and plentiful pictures is a superb format invaluable for specialists but also interesting for casual readers, it makes these books a must for the library of anyone who cares about contemporary art.' (Time Out)

'A unique series of informative monographs on individual artists.' (The Sunday Times)

Synopsis:

Paul McCarthy creates sculptures figuring animal/vegetable/human hybrids, Disney-esque installations and slapstick performances in weird evocations of a national subconscious. The psycho-sexual desires and anxieties induced by the media and the built environment of contemporary America emerge in his collisions of plastic prosthetics and simulated body fluids. These have been variously deployed: through live actions, often documented on video, and more recently in outsized and artificial rural environments. Ralph Rugoff surveys McCarthy's installations and sculptures since the early-1970s, while Kristine Stiles, an expert on performance, talks with the artist about his performance work. Giacinto Di Pietrantonio focuses on McCarthy's video/installation, "Pinocchio Pipehouse Householddilemma". The artist has juxtaposed a text by Jean-Paul Sartre with a screenplay from the TV serial "Bonanza", and the final section, the artist's writings, contains notes for performances and videos. The book is part of a series of studies of important artists of the late-20th century.

Each title offers a comprehensive survey of the artist's work, providing analyses and multiple perspectives on contemporary art and its inspiration.

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