Jason Rhoades: The Big Picture

The Perfect World' is regarded by many as Jason Rhoades’ most important project. Created for the Deichtorhallen Hamburg in 1999, this ‘mega sculpture’ filled the entirety of the Deichtorhallen—a space of roughly 15,000 square feet—and created a visual maelstrom of objects and cultural allusions.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Paul McCarthy—Rhoades’ former teacher and friend—discusses the significance of the Hamburg project in Rhoades’ overall oeuvre with curator Ralph Rugoff. An essay by Rugoff examines the true-to-scale reductions in the installation and a picture essay by Eva Meyer Hermann explores the phenemonenon of the recycling of materials in Rhoades’ work, while lavish illustrations and numerous historical photographs of three versions of the installation provide detailed insight into Rhoades’ artistic cosmos.