Paul McCarthy Chocolate Factory
On the occasion of its re-opening, Monnaie de Paris presents Chocolate Factory, an exhibition by Paul McCarthy which will be installed in the newly renovated exhibition spaces at Monnaie de Paris, marking the beginning of a new phase of contemporary art programs.
Paul McCarthy, a central figure in the international contemporary art world and an inspiration for generations of artists, brings the energy and endless reinvention of the city of Los Angeles to his first major solo exhibition in a Paris institution. First realized seven years ago in New York City, this re-installation of Chocolate Factory in Paris will build upon its previous installation, using the shift in context from the white cube and austere setting of the Maccarone gallery to the ornate and Baroque Salle Guillaume Dupré to transform and evolve the project.
The exhibition welcomes visitors in the grand staircase with a grove of giant inflatable sculptures, which reference both modernist sculpture and Christmas trees, a form to provide pleasure. These sculptures of industrial proportion and materiality also point to street advertising, marrying the wonders of Hollywood and the western consumer culture dream.
Born in 1945 in Salt Lake City, Paul McCarthy lives and works in Los Angeles. Invited by Chris Burden, McCarthy taught at UCLA’s graduate school of art as chair of the New Genres department, from 1982 to 1999.
McCarthy has been the subject of solo exhibitions in the most prestigious international museums, including Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles and New Museum, New York (2000), Tate Modern, London (2003), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2005), Moderna Museet, Stockhom (2006), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2008), Trussardi Foundation, Milan (2010), and more recently, the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2012) and The Park Avenue Armory, New York (2013). He has also participated in the main biennials of contemporary art including five editions of the Venice Biennial (2012, 2001, 1999, 1995, 1993), three editions of the Whitney’s Biennial in New York (2004, 1997, 1995), Lyon’s Biennial (2003), Berlin’s Biennial (2006) and two editions of the Sydney Biennial (2010, 2000).