INFERNO

Paul McCarthy / Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin / Opening 11.9.2015 19:00 / 12.09.15-22.11.15.

On the occasion of Berlin Art Week a solo exhibition by US-American artist Paul McCarthy will be presented at the Schinkel Pavillon. McCarthy confronts the viewer with scenarios of raw reality via events transmitted by film and television, exploring the tension between the surface of the transmitted images and their invisible, unsettling origins, particularly with reference to the Hollywood film industry and American pop culture. Employing such diverse media as photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, video, performance, and installation, McCarthy confronts appearances with reality, taking on the contradiction between taboo and spectacle. McCarthy’s point of reference remains the human body, which he sets (often through his own performances) in relation to socially established conventions and calls into question – both through sculpture and directly, in his actions – as a figure in space. The body, (living-) space, and the object are central to the work presented at the Schinkel Pavillon, which is oriented around themes of waking and sleeping, life and death, presence and illusion.

Paul McCarthy, Horizontal, 2012 Platinum silicone, fiberglass, aluminum, stainless steel, natural hair, pigment, paint, wood door with laminate, wood sawhorses 102,9 × 268 × 90,5 cm Photo: Fredrik Nilsen Courtesy Paul McCarthy and Hauser & Wirth