Paul McCarthy

Paul McCarthy is widely recognized as a highly influential and pioneering contemporary American artist. He initially developed a multi-faceted artistic practice aimed at transcending the boundaries of traditional painting, utilizing unconventional materials such as bodily fluids and food.

Biography of Paul McCarthy

Paul MacCarthy was born in 1945 and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received a BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1969 and an MFA in multimedia, film, and art from USC in 1973.

He spent 18 years teaching performance, video, installation, and art history in the New Genres Department at UCLA, influencing subsequent generations of artists on the West Coast. His artistic collaborations extend to fellow artists such as Mike Kelley and Jason Rhoades, as well as his son Damon McCarthy.

The artist's exhibitions have taken place in New York, London, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. He has held solo shows at prestigious institutions like Tate Modern, Moderna Museet, the S.M.A.K. Museum of Contemporary Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Haus der Kunst. McCarthy's artwork has commanded high prices in auctions, with pieces selling for seven figures. His creations are housed in renowned collections, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.

The artist currently resides and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Paul McCarthy's Art Style

Paul McCarthy is renowned for his thought-provoking performances, multimedia installations, and sculptures that blend high and low culture, creating sharp critiques of American mythologies and politics. Notably, the human figure remains a constant in his work.

His humorously exaggerated characters and objects serve as critiques of the worlds they originate from -  Hollywood, politics, philosophy, science, art, literature, and television. McCarthy's art draws attention to the underlying traumas concealed beneath the facade of the American Dream and finds parallels within the art historical canon.

One instance of this can be seen in "Caribbean Pirates" (2001–05), where the artist engaged with the well-known Disneyland attraction and movie franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean." His installation and video work portrayed instances of excessive violence, offering commentary on Hollywood formulas and issues such as prisoner abuse.

Another example, "Train, Mechanical" (2003–09), featured oversized animated sculptures depicting George W. Bush mounting pigs from behind.