Dan McCarthy

Facepots focuses on the recent ceramic work of New York–based artist Dan McCarthy (born 1962)--highly animated and emotionally charged objects formed through an immediate, hands-on process. The volume situates McCarthy's ceramics historically and includes a visual essay by the artist himself, featuring images and icons that served as inspiration.

Brooklyn-based painter Dan McCarthy, who was born in Honolulu in 1962, has received plenty of critical attention for his recent canvases--thinly painted, almost gouachy, two-dimensional compositions that feature surfers on rainbow-covered waves, bikini girls on skateboards, scuba divers submerged in darkly undulating waters, longhairs, sports fisherman and other weird utopias. Nudes and nature abound. Ken Johnson of The New York Times assessed McCarthy's "dreamy, goofy and naughty imagery" as both "intriguing and amusing," while Art in America's Sarah Valdez finds McCarthy's quasi-Catholic references "less spiritual than surrealistic." Some may see shades of Edvard Munch, while others will hear the strains of Brian Wilson on his better days. This volume is the first retrospective monograph to date, presented by McCarthy's New York gallery, Anton Kern, and Brooklyn-based publisher The Journal Books.