American contemporary artist Paul McCarthy may not be Leonardo Da Vinci, but he certainly has a distinctive style, no ifs, ands or buts about it.
The artist’s latest work, an 80-foot inflatable piece called “Tree,” doesn’t really look like a tree, but does look an awful lot like a gigantic butt plug, and some Parisians aren’t especially happy about it.
Un sex toy géant de 24 m de haut va être installé ces jours-ci place Vendôme Contribuables, voilà où vont vos impôts! pic.twitter.com/zl76ar8qE2
— Printemps Français (@nelachonsrien) October 15, 2014
(Translation: “This is where your tax dollars are going!”)
According to The Daily Mail, “Tree” is part of a promotional effort for next week’s International Contemporary Art Fair in Paris. Regardless of how people fell about the piece, the promotional aspect will be a success as long as McCarthy remembers that any interviews he does should include a promotional plug.
To play Devil’s Advocate for a minute, is there any chance “Tree” was actually intended to be a tree? Judging by McCarthy’s previous works, including a gigantic inflatable dog turd in Hong Kong and a gnome holding a dildo in the Netherlands, probably not.
[h/t Gawker]
