Human expression, in its rawest form, is a single-world expletive. The reality is that life is profane, vulgar even. On view at Hauser & Wirth now through January 14, 2017, the work of artist and Document contributor Paul McCarthy highlights the hypocritical nature of consumerist culture in the United States and is presented as the final exhibition at the gallery’s 18th Street locale.
“Raw Spinoffs Continuations” visits the most significant McCarthy works in the last 15 years, an oeuvre offering a seductive reproach that challenges the Western psyche: The American Dream is transformed into a dark, bacchanal fantasy through the use of materials including clay, resin, and fiberglass. In his latest bronze-medium series, “White Snow Dwarfs,” McCarthy resists new politics of the pastoral for delineations of orgy and euphoria. Also on view are other notable projects, including “WS,” “Caribbean Pirates,” and “Pig Island.”
Based in Los Angeles and received as diehard on issues concerning American consumerist culture and mass-media, McCarthy’s artistic language is informed by the likes of the Viennese Actionism and Sigmund Freud.
On view until January 14, 2017, “Raw Spinoffs Continuations” is the closing exhibition for Hauser & Wirth at 18th Street; thereafter, the gallery will temporarily relocate to 548 West 22nd Street in New York.