Paul McCarthy Continues to Define the Language of the Obscene in Them as Was Is @ Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin

Bringing together past and present, then and now, Them as Was Is, Paul McCarthy’s first solo exhibition with Galerie Max Hetzler, presents two fundamental aspects of McCarthy’s practice. On the ground floor, eighteen sculptures constitute an early endeavour by the artist to combine different periods of sculpture into one, allowing visitors to draw out the similarities that weave together his most iconic sculptural projects. On the gallery’s upper floor, a series of drawings and video works from the artist’s more recent ‘A&E’ (2019–) project show film and performance to be at the heart of McCarthy’s practice.

The gallery’s second floor presents drawings created by McCarthy during improvised performances between himself and German actress Lilith Stangenberg as part of their ongoing ‘A&E’ project. The project’s title refers to the layered alter egos which McCarthy and Stangenberg assume: Adolf Hitler & Eva Braun, Adam & Eve, Arts & Entertainment, America & Europe. Created during hours-long sessions in which the collaborators enter a state of delirium, the drawings possess a radical immediacy and undeniable physicality. Alongside unconscious scrawls, magazine clippings, and imagery of Hitler and Mickey Mouse, certain drawings incorporate the artist’s tools, providing witness to the gestures embedded in them.

 
 

Them as Was Is is on view through October 21st at Galerie Max Hetzler, Potsdamer Straße 77-87, Berlin.

At The V&A Museum Faye Toogood's Cloaks Are Meant to Keep You Warm and Curious

photograph Theo Bridge

Visitors to the V&A Museum during the London Design Festival are transformed into temporary custodians via Faye Toogood’s two-part installation, The Cloakroom. The first part of the experience is a literal cloakroom, located in Room 55, where visitors are invited to check out one of 150 Toogood coats to wear around the Museum. Each coat is equipped with a sewn-in map that guides the visitor through the second part of the installation: ten places in the Museum galleries, where they will discover a series of sculptural garments created by Toogood in response to nearby objects from the Museum’s collection – from a 15th century timber-panelled room to a shining suit of armour. The 150 navigational coats are based on the voluminous Oil Rigger coat, one of the first coats designed for the Toogood brand, which the designer runs with her pattern-cutter sister, Erica. The coats are made from Highfield by Kvadrat, a high-tech compressed-foam textile and each has been hand-treated to render it unique. The sculptural garments visitors discover during their journey are constructed from non-traditional fashion materials, including wood, fibreglass and metal, bridging the worlds of furniture design and fashion with which Toogood is engaged. “These are ten of my favourite objects within the V&A, and I’ve responded to each object’s material, craftsmanship, or artisan maker,” says Toogood. “I want to take people on a journey of discovery through the depths of the Museum.” The installation will be on view until September 27, 2015 – with a special talk given by Faye Toogood on the 25th  – at the V&A at The Clore Study Area, Room 55, Level 2, Cromwell Road.