paul mccarthy : pig island at fondazione nicola trussardi

'static (pink)' by paul mc carthy, 2004-2009
silicone, stainless steel
271 x 164 x 324 cm, private collection
installation view of the exhibition 'pig island'
photo by marco de scalzi
image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

fondazione nicola trussardi presents 'pig island',
the first solo show of the legendary american artist paul mc carthy with an italian institution,
inside the palazzo citterio (it has been closed for over 25 years) in the historical brera area of milan
on show from may 20 to july 4, 2010.

full of explosive mix of freudian symbolism, paul mc carthy’s installations, videos, sculptures and
drawings picture contemporary america as a hysterical theme park, controlling its citizens by
indulging appetites for violence, infantilism, sex and fast food.
combining minimalism and performance, walt disney and george w. bush, mc carthy has used the
human body, with all its desires and taboos, to create a unique, irreverent, and satirical language that
combines pop art with fairy tales, the nightmares of the daily news with universal archetypes.



detail of 'static (pink)'
photo by marco de scalzi
image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi


'I am interested in horror movies and B-movies as a genre.
they are alternative to the Hollywood blockbuster.
they’re inconsistent.
the illusions are flawed. I am interested in the fake arm and head being cut off, fake blood, fake sex.
they reveal themselves as film, as fake, but yet consider them effective.
I am not satirising horror films.
I want to make something that alludes to horrer and use it to make something else,
something that has no clear explanation.'
paul mc carthy



detail of 'static (pink)'
photo by marco de scalzi
image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

'mc carthy highlights a certain joy in being a willing – as opposed to unwitting – victim of
modern swinehood, wallowing in a mess of marketing, advertising and general consumerism.'
as art critic mark rappolt points it out.



beatrice trussardi
image © designboom



installation view of the exhibition 'pig island' at press preview
image © designboom

the artist portraits himself:


'dreaming' by paul mc carthy, 2005
painted silicone, t-shirt, artificial hair, plastic, styrofoam, garden chair
180 x 62 x 71 cm
image © designboom



detail of 'dreaming'
image © designboom



detail of 'dreaming'
image © designboom



'black bow bilbao' by paul mc carthy, 2001-2005
styrofoam, wood, silicone
122 x 92 x 127 cm
image © designboom


'black bow bilbao'
image © designboom



'ketchup sandwich' by paul mc carthy, 1970
glass, ketchup, heinz ketchup bottles
76 x 76 x 76 cm
image © designboom



'ketchup sandwich'
image © designboom



'ketchup sandwich'
image © designboom



installation view
photo by marco de scalzi
image courtesy fondazione trussardi


'chair with butt plug' by paul mc carthy, 1978
wooden chair, doc johnson butt plug, bolts
89 x 46 x 43 cm
image © designboom



'paula jones' by paul mc carthy, 2010
silicone, aluminum, wood, latex, polyurethane
170 x 122 x 244 cm
image © designboom



'paula jones'
image © designboom

the show explores an underground bunker carved out beneath the city,
it is installed in one of the grandest examples of contemporary architecture in milan: still completely
hidden to the public, and left in a state of disrepair where one finds the archeological artifacts of
a never-never-land: 'pig island' combines paul mc carthy’s hypertrophic, rabelaisian works with the
rawness of a gigantic, endless work-in-progress.



'pig island' by paul mc carthy, 2003-2010
mixed media
11 x 10 x 6 m
photo by marco de scalzi
image courtesy fondazione trussardi

for the exhibition with fondazione nicola trussardi, paul mc carthy presents one of his most complex
and ambitious works, 'pig island', a giant sculpture that grew in the artist’s studio to fill over 100 square
meters with a surreal anthology of the themes that have cropped up throughout his career.
the installation is a carnivalesque amusement park in which human beings behave like pigs.
a treasure island in reverse, a sculptural shipwreck in which pirates and their heroines throw themselves
with abandon into wild revels.
its characters can finally cast off their inhibitions and reveal their all-too-human nature.
this is a work-in-progress that mc carthy has been developing for over seven years, and which made its
world debut now in milan.


'pig island' by paul mc carthy
image © designboom



'pig island'
image © designboom

'in pig island some figures are realistic and others are abstract and deformed, turned into mush.
a human becomes a pig and a pig becomes a human becomes mud form, pig island is a platform;
we are on a platform. I always deconstruct and alter the object, mold and re-mold in rubber or chocolate.
make the hands twice the normal size or refine the boots, cut off the boot and set it on the floor.
it is constantly in this flux. appearing to be finished, but never finished, always implying a direction and
than changing the direction. leading everybody on to believe that is finished, or that we are closed to finish,
and than completely abandoning that and than starting again. and in that process, the piece keeps going,
it keeps building up.'
paul mc carthy


detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'angelina jolie', part of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



bush in a detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



detail of 'pig island' installation
image © designboom



installation view with 'F-fort party' video
image © designboom



'F-fort party' by paul mc carthy, 2005
2 channels video installation, 30’00”
courtesy the artist and hauser & wirth



video installation
image © designboom


'pirate party' by paul mc carthy - damon mc carthy, 2005
4 channels video installation, 92’00”
and
'houseboat party' by paul mc carthy - damon mc carthy, 2005
3 channels video installation, 54’32”
courtesy the artist and hauser & wirth



installation view with 'daddies tomato ketchup inflatable'
image © designboom

'daddies tomato ketchup inflatable' by paul mc carthy, 2001
nylon fabric, fans, equipment
15 x 4 x 4 m
image © designboom



curator massimiliano gioni
portrait © designboom



paul mc carthy
portrait © designboom

paul mc carthy
was born in salt lake city, USA 1945.
he lives and works in los angeles.