Artist Paul McCarthy's "Michael Jackson Fucked Up (Big Head)" is his critique of Jeff Koons' disturbing "Michael Jackson and Bubbles."
An homage as much as a literal critique, McCarthy metabolizes the iconic work by Jeff Koons, of Michael Jackson holding his pet chimpanzee Bubbles, and excretes it as his own. Altering the original material of fragile porcelain, McCarthy has executed his version of the fallen pop star in bronze. Countering the refined connotations of the metal, the undifferentiated features of the faces differentiate McCarthy's portraiture from the excess of the baroque rendering of its inspiration. The oversized head of Michael appears as it might topple over like a statue of a deposed monarch, yet is propped up with a shim. The rough hewn texture leaves the evidence of its making intact, directing our attention to the performative quality of all art making.
McCarthy's Michael Jackson piece is estimated to be worth between 2 to 3 million dollars.