Paul McCarthy Debuts Phallic Sculpture at New Museum Spring Gala

For its spring gala Wednesday night, the New Museum asked three artists to donate works for an auction. Mary Heilmann gave up one of her colorful canvasses and Ed Ruscha offered one of his word paintings. But they were upstaged, as is his wont, by Paul McCarthy. Right there in one of Cipriani Wall Street’s grand halls, the museum had installed one of McCarthy’s sculptures resembling sex toys, a smaller-scale version of the phallic monument he erected last fall in Paris’ Place Vendôme to much public outcry. A ribbed, bright Crayola-blue monolith, this one looked almost solemn on a pedestal under its own spotlight. In France, McCarthy may have caused a scandal, but here the piece was merely the subject of passing fascination, a curious artifact that at least offered some amusement for the gala-weary. Onlookers approached it gingerly, not sure whether to take its picture or pose with it. Talk about a selfie stick. Francisco Costa seemed riveted as he snapped away with abandon. “It’s amazing,” he said. “It’s kind of a Klein blue, but not. An acid Klein.” Was he planning on bidding on it? “No, thank you very much.” A good chunk of the art world — John Currin and Rachel

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