Paul McCarthy and Damon McCarthy: Caribbean Pirates

‘Caribbean Pirates,’ an immense two-volume artist book by Paul McCarthy and his son Damon McCarthy, presents photographic documentation of ‘Frigate’ and ‘Houseboat,’ two works first begun in 2001 that take the lawlessness of piracy as a departure point. Exploring the ways bodies, sex, and violence all find themselves enmeshed in networks of cultural references – spanning from American consumerism to Disney and classical cinema – these works are an essential component of McCarthy’s acclaimed multidisciplinary practice, which merges performance, sculpture, photography, painting, video, installation, and virtual reality. As Welchman iterates, ‘Activating his grocery items as tools, lubricants, and props, McCarthy’s sexually schizophrenic persona engaged for almost an hour in dysfunctional bouts of mannered and aggressive autoeroticism inside a decrepit skid-row hotel room.’