Date posted: August 8, 2004
Paul McCarthy, Brain Box Dream Box
Penises. There is no escaping them. They are everywhere. Growing out of eye sockets, instead of a nose or just free floating. The American artist Paul McCarthy is clearly obsessed. Give him a piece of paper and a pencil and he starts drawing a penis, with or without scrotum. Occasionally he draws a vagina as well or a mouth enclosing a penis. Sometimes he adds an arrow and a caption “penis” or “paenus” to rub it in. Rubbing it in is what Paul McCarthy does, and whether with paint, ketchup or chocolate sauce. Excess is the name of his game. McCarthy likes pushing things too far, in his drawings, but most of all in his performances, which always end up as a complete mess.