Musical Paintings

"Today," declares Malcolm McLaren, "there are two words that sum up the culture : authenticity is one, and the other... karaoke ! Many artists spend their entire life trying to authenticate, make true, a karaoke culture - but you have to be a magician to make that happen." This book, like the exhibition it stems from, is built around McLaren's Shallow, a series of 21 "musical paintings" made from a "grab bag of pop culture's debris of the past fifty years." The project, curated by Bernd Wurlitzer, brought together Delia Brown, Wolfgang Flad, Rodney Graham, Gregor Hildebrandt, Damien Hirst, Alicja Kwade, Jim Lambie, Jack Pierson, Rob Pruitt, Michael Queenland, Anselm Reyle, Michael Sailstorfer, and Andreas Schulze.