The Park Avenue Armory took a chance this year by letting Paul McCarthy show his controversial WS within the facility's 4 acres. However the show the Los Angeles-based artist has created is a big hit. Although the exhibit is NC-17, that hasn't affected attendance like many feared.
The show has become the art institution’s second-most-attended exhibition. Since opening two weeks ago, the Park Avenue Armory has seen 11,000 visitors--and it isn't even finished with its run. The show runs until August 4. “There’s a much narrower potential audience for this than for most things we’ve done before,” Armory president and executive producer Rebecca Robertson said to the New York Times, “so I think the attendance we’re seeing is very strong.”
WS is the most controversial show the Armory has ever presented. McCarthy's work contains videotaped scenes that show nudity, gore, and raw sexuality. People have reacted pretty strongly to the show, either showing joy or disgust. The facility usually shows family-friendly exhibitions, but maybe they'll pull a Miley Cyrus and go the sexy route for future exhibitions. We can only hope.
[viaNYTimes]
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