‘I’m Not Trying to Satisfy an Audience’: Watch Paul McCarthy Transform Historical Depictions of Purity Into Objects of Revulsion

For the first time, the American
artist Paul
McCarthy is having a survey dedicated entirely to his drawings and
works on paper, opening this February at the Hammer Museum in Los
Angeles.

A provocateur who is best known
for his performance and video art, McCarthy’s work is often
grotesque and sarcastic, deriding American icons by transforming
them into objects of revulsion. The drawings reveal a more
process-based practice than many of his sculptures or videos,
though they still have a certain unfinished, craggy quality to
them. 

In an exclusive interview with Art21 as part of
the “Art in the Twenty-First
Century” series, McCarthy explains his fascination with Hummels,
the German porcelain figurines of cherubic young boys and girls
which have served as inspiration for many of his works.

“The nature of the [Hummel] sculpture itself, which is this idea of purity and
cleanliness,” he says of his interpretation of the figurines,
“I kind of believe that hygiene is the religion of fascism.” In
fact, McCarthy’s sculptures of the same name are vastly
different—instead of glossy pastoral innocence, his work is rough,
asymmetrical, and creepy. 

“I’m not trying to satisfy an
audience,” he says in the video, filmed in 2009. He makes a
distinction between art and entertainment, and while the latter is
predicated on generating a positive response, he has no such
hangups as an artist, saying “my responsibility is to the
ideas.” 

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part
of Art21’s Art in the Twenty-First Century series, below.
“Paul McCarthy: Head Space, Drawings 1963–2019”
is on view at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles from February 2–May
10, 2020. 

This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration
between artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of newsmaking
artists. A new series of the nonprofit Art21’s flagship series Art
in the Twenty-First Century is available now on PBS. Catch all
episodes of other series like New York Close Up and Extended Play
and learn about the organization’s educational programs
at Art21.org.

The post ‘I’m Not Trying to Satisfy an Audience’: Watch Paul
McCarthy Transform Historical Depictions of Purity Into Objects of
Revulsion appeared first on artnet News.