Paul McCarthy, Michael Jackson Fucked Up (Big Head)

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.

Nudie Origami

Brooklyn-born and self-proclaimed "social ecologist" Ethan Shoshan latest project "Porn Star" features origami stars made from porn magazines.  I'm also amused by his performance piece "Eating Jenny Holtzer."

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Ai Weiwei, Coca Cola Vase

Not that I'm knowledgeable in the area of pottery, but I do know that I really, really like this fusion of two very familiar images--the classic pottery vase shape with the iconic red Coca Cola logo--in Beijing-born Ai Weiwei's Coca Cola Vase. It's wei cool.

He's currently exhibiting at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan from July 25 through November 9.

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Beginning of Space Travel

Don't you hate days where you feel like this? Werner Reiterer, "Beginning of Space Travel."

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Graffiti Artist Zevs Arrested

French graffiti artist Zevs was recently arrested in Hong Kong after putting his trademark "liquidated" styling to the city's flagship Chanel storefront as seen in these photos. He was in Hong Kong for his solo exhibition at Art Statements Gallery opening this week on July 16 through September 30. Check out his website for a neat visualization.

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Mini Goals

Mary Kate McFevitt creates and sells kitschy chalkboards that help you stay focused on accomplishing a couple things at a time.

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Facebook Cartoon

Ward Sutton for The New Yorker.

Refrigerator in a Corner

Thomas Rentmeister, Nearly 100 fridges in a corner.

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Mike Leavitt's Cardboard Shoes

Artist Mike Leavitt builds some cool realistic shoes and other things made from cardboard. He must have some fun with art snobs. "What's your medium?" "Cardboard."

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Jeff Koons New Works in London

A Jeff Koons exhibit featuring 23 works at the Serpentine Gallery is "his first major solo show at a public institution in London." "Popeye Series" will be on display until September 13.

I Told My Therapist About You

Taking a relationship to the next level in this print by Mike Monteiro available at 20x200. I have a feeling this will be popular in LA and NYC.

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The Joy of Painting 24/7

Bob Ross "The Joy of Painting" is streaming nonstop online. As he often said: "We don't make mistakes, we just have happy little accidents." Like having kids.

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Jack Daws, Two Towers

Kentucky born artist Jack Daws created this unappetizing sculpture, "Two Towers" with McDonald's french fries and ketchup.

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We Are All American

From New York Times slideshow "Iranian Art in Chelsea," I really like this photograph. Shirin Aliabdai and Farhad Moshiri, "We Are All American Operation Supermarket Series."

Happy 4th of July

More Kate Moss by Craig McDean here.

Impromptu Michael Jackson Memorial at Leo Kesting Gallery

When news of Jackson's death reached Leo Kesting Gallery in New York's meatpacking district, they displayed this painting by Jonny Fenix in their window and "within minutes, the front of our gallery transformed into an impromptu memorial commemorating this iconic pop star's life."

Antony Gormley, Terracotta Army

Antony Gormley's "Field for the British Isles" is comprised of 40,000 small terracotta figures ranging from three to ten inches high.

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Eames Plywood Molded Sculpture

Ray and Charles Eames created this sculpture in 1943 and it sold at a Christie's auction for $365,500 last year (it was estimated at $80,000 to $120,000)! In case you're wondering, this measures 37 inches high, 27 inches wide, and 13 inches deep.

Horizon Reflection

Really loving this photograph by Bas Princen of a Houston building perfectly reflecting the horizon.

Dana Schutz, The Autopsy of Michael Jackson

New York artist Dana Schutz created this prescient painting titled "The Autopsy of Michael Jackson" in 2005. One blogger guesstimates the value of this painting at now around at least $2 million since the events of the past days.

In an interview the artist remarked:

In some ways he’s the most self-made man there is, to the point of it becoming really scary. I was thinking of the painting as a photograph that hasn’t been taken yet. I posited all these question around Michael Jackson’s death: How does he die? How old is he? What shape is he in? What does he look like naked? He ended up looking like just a dead man. Which for me was very strange. I ended up having sympathy for him. There is an immortality about him in life. In the painting there is an autopsy incision alluding to his insides, which is intrusive and contradicts the constant reforming of his external features. In the painting he is very mortal.