Paul McCarthy
Alpine Stories and other Dystopias
Hauser & Wirth
18 July – 15 August 2020
Bringing together a selection of sculptures, photographs, drawings and a video work by the celebrated Los Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy, Alpine Stories and other Dystopias opens at Tarmak22 in Gstaad on the 18 July. The theme of the Swiss Alps as a locale is the presentation’s point of departure to explore the ideas of innocence and utopia. The exhibited works span a more than 20-year period and include pieces from the artist’s long term projects Heidi, White Snow, Caribbean Pirates and the Propo photographs, showing McCarthy’s own visions of Disney’s alleged idyllic worlds.
For McCarthy, a Swiss enthusiast with a keen interest in mountaineering, the image of Switzerland was connected early on to Disneyland. ‘I was really into the Matterhorn at Disneyland because I was also into the real Matterhorn and mountains and climbing. The whole alpine aesthetic – chalets, cuckoo clocks, knotty pine, boots, parkas and all that. Making a piece that references Disneyland directly didn’t happen until I moved to LA. My interest in Disneyland spins out of my interest in Hollywood.’
Images
Jon Etter
© Paul McCarthy
Paul McCarthy
Alpine Stories and other Dystopias
Hauser & Wirth
18 July – 15 August 2020
Bringing together a selection of sculptures, photographs, drawings and a video work by the celebrated Los Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy, Alpine Stories and other Dystopias opens at Tarmak22 in Gstaad on the 18 July. The theme of the Swiss Alps as a locale is the presentation’s point of departure to explore the ideas of innocence and utopia. The exhibited works span a more than 20-year period and include pieces from the artist’s long term projects Heidi, White Snow, Caribbean Pirates and the Propo photographs, showing McCarthy’s own visions of Disney’s alleged idyllic worlds.
For McCarthy, a Swiss enthusiast with a keen interest in mountaineering, the image of Switzerland was connected early on to Disneyland. ‘I was really into the Matterhorn at Disneyland because I was also into the real Matterhorn and mountains and climbing. The whole alpine aesthetic – chalets, cuckoo clocks, knotty pine, boots, parkas and all that. Making a piece that references Disneyland directly didn’t happen until I moved to LA. My interest in Disneyland spins out of my interest in Hollywood.’
Images
Jon Etter
© Paul McCarthy