PAUL MCCARTHY: TOMATO HEAD
Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, is pleased to present Paul McCarthy’s solo exhibition entitled Tomato Head.
December 13, 2024 - February 8, 2025
Tomato Head (1994), one of Paul McCarthy’s most important works from the 1990s, creates a life-size, cartoon-like figure that explores the relationship between modern culture, consumerism and innocence.
In this work, McCarthy plays out the allegories of a beloved and immediately recognizable cast of characters ranging from Santa Claus and Pinocchio to Mr. Potato Head and Popeye. Tomato Head (Green) (1994) is both a nomenclative and visual play on the children’s toy “Mr. Potato Head.” Developed in 1949, the original “Mr. Potato Head” was the first toy ever to be advertised on television and has remained popular even today. This post-war symbol of children’s entertainment symbolizes the beginning of a new consumer-driven era in America.
Much like “Mr. Potato Head,” Tomato Head (Green) has holes in place of eyes, nose, mouth and ears, where various pegs affixed with these human parts could be inserted randomly to give the figure different appendages or expressions. Unlike the toy, however, there are holes in its groin and anus where pegs could also be inserted. The work suggests an ability to construct gender identity: making these changes and substitutions allows the figure to play with potential self-iterations and explore all the possible identities available to it. However, even though the figure has several items at its disposal with which to auto-configure, these are a prefabricated, predetermined set. This limitation speaks to the restricted number of identities and lifestyle choices available to individuals in normative contemporary culture. Raw, visceral, and deeply disturbing, McCarthy’s work unmasks the vile, dysfunctional truth behind the American Dream.
Paul McCarthy: Tomato Head is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Post Human, and it is accompanied by drawings and sketches that allow audiences to discover the thought process behind one of McCarthy’s most significant artworks.