Day 359
Paul McCarthy (1945-)
Complex Shit, 2008
Paul McCarthy is is one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work is provocative and disturbing; a number of his installations reveal the dark side of popular culture as he transforms characters such as Pinocchio and Santa Claus into scary and sexualised figures. Earlier works were performances such as the 1974 video, Painting, Wall Whip, where he smeared his body with paint, ketchup, mayonnaise, raw meat and feces. He has said: “I had this thing about exposing the interior of the body..the orifices leading into the body, and what the interior was, and the taboos of the interior.” Recently, in 2008, his large inflatable “Complex Shit”, installed on the grounds of the Paul Klee Centre in Bern, Switzerland, took off in the wind breaking a window at a children’s home. It was reported worldwide saying: “Up in the sky: is it a turd or a plane?”
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