Paul McCarthy

Talk Art SEASON 9!!!!! For the first episode of this extraordinary new season, Russell & Robert meet one our art heroes, and bona fide artist legend, Paul McCarthy!!!! Widely considered to be one of the most influential and groundbreaking contemporary American artists, his artworks have inspired, entertained, provoked and even shocked, international audiences for decades.

Born in 1945, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, he first established a multi-faceted artistic practice, which sought to break the limitations of painting by using unorthodox materials such as bodily fluids and food. He has since become known for visceral, often hauntingly humorous work in a variety of mediums – from performance, photography, film and video, to sculpture, drawing and painting.

McCarthy earned a BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1969, and an MFA in multimedia, film and art from USC in 1973. For 18 years, he taught performance, video, installation, and art history in the New Genres Department at UCLA, where he influenced future generations of west coast artists and he has exhibited extensively worldwide. McCarthy’s work comprises collaborations with artist-friends such as Mike Kelley and Jason Rhoades, as well as his son Damon McCarthy.

During the 1990s, he extended his practice into installations and stand-alone sculptural figures, utilizing a range of materials such as fiberglass, silicone, animatronics and inflatable vinyl. Playing on popular illusions and cultural myths, fantasy and reality collide in a delirious yet poignant exploration of the subconscious, in works that simultaneously challenge the viewer’s phenomenological expectations. Whether absent or present, the human figure has been a constant in his work, either through the artist‘s own performances or the array of characters he creates to mix high and low culture, and provoke an analysis of our fundamental beliefs. These playfully oversized characters and objects critique the worlds from which they are drawn: Hollywood, politics, philosophy, science, art, literature, and television. McCarthy’s work, thus, locates the traumas lurking behind the stage set of the American Dream and identifies their counterparts in the art historical canon.

Paul McCarthy 'A&E Sessions – Drawing and Painting' runs until 10th April 2021 at Hauser & Wirth, New York. This new solo exhibition presents new drawings, paintings, sculpture and sound work by the celebrated American artist that confront the complex mechanisms of power, politics, desire, and history. Central to the exhibition is a series of large-scale drawings from McCarthy’s most recent multi-disciplinary project ‘A&E.’ Created by the artist during improvised performances involving himself and German actor Lilith Stangenberg. Follow @HauserWirth on Instagram and their official website at: www.hauserwirth.com

For images of all artworks discussed in this episode visit @TalkArt. Talk Art theme music by Jack Northover @JackNorthoverMusic courtesy of HowlTown.com We've just joined Twitter too @TalkArt. If you've enjoyed this episode PLEASE leave us your feedback and maybe 5 stars if we're worthy in the Apple Podcast store. For all requests, please email [email protected]

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