The idea behind “Private Sculpture” is both brilliant and simple, why imitate nature if you can literally copy it. These copies, of bodies, body parts or genitals, can be used in one single sculpture, or reassembled, like in the cuddle wall called “The spice of life”. Jamie McCartney is not using his concept for art alone, he also commercializes it’s potential by making sexy gifts, commission works and custom made dildo’s.
I just love it when someone steps out of the “untouchable art” environment and mixes artistic pretensions with commercial ones. It doesn’t make an artwork like “The spice of life” less museological, on the contrary, in my opinion it even extents it’s vitality. While some of his work can be seen as a gimmick, a sexy gift, the wall sculpture is such a confronting experience, it should get a permanent place in one of the leading art museums in Europe. The question if copying a body can be seen as art, is answered already in those 1920’ when dada invented their “readymades” and Duchamp shows his porcelain urinal. From that time, the idea of uniqueness and personal creation became obsolete, and context, renewal, and experience became the next big thing. So yes, the body parts he uses are not created by him, the copies, concept and assemblage are, and they provide us with this stunning erotic experience.
The technique Jamie McCartney is using, to create his erotic sculptures, is quite commonly used for masks, and lifelike sculpturing. You use Plaster to make a mould, the negative print of the body, and with this mould you can make a positive sculpture in bronze, silicone rubber, or any other material you want. But as easy this sounds, to achieve a decent amount of detail is really hard, to get the quality shows in the work of McCartney takes quite some experience and skills.
Private Erotic sculptures by Jamie McCartney
