And on from that rather positive not so soft white Underbelly thing in the garage and on the rails under the rails by the railway bridge, past the notion oyster cults of any kind of colour on to see what’s happening at Union and that particular gallery’s latest opening. Something to so with a tree or a butt plug or a black bucket or something along those lines. Strange place Union, not really that engaging but then that is kind of par for the course as far as most of the establishment-leaning art spaces of East London go. As we’ve said before, Union is somewhere in the hinterlands beyond the Hackney Road on the Bethnal Green side of things, a rather formal, rather simple white cube in the front room of a terrace house – do we have hinterlands in that part of East London? We’re surely way too far from the river, the canal or anything else? We did ask that last time or was it the time before? Mid Saturday afternoon opening, whole lot of art crowd drinking wine and beer out of plastic cups and being careful not to smile or say hello should eye contact be accidentally made, always the same at this place…   

Ten years after ‘Tree’ that 80ft inflatable sculpture “that sparked international controversy when installed in Paris, Paul McCarthy revisits its iconic form in a provocative new artist edition and solo exhibition at Union Gallery, London: Tree Green Plug Bottle Whisky Bucket Black”. is it really that provocative? Have we all seen a butt plug on a plinth in a gallery a dozen times already? Okay, so it is a bit one, ah but it really is a tree, it really is just the minds of the viewers, chocolate tipped as well, good enough to eat? Something to do with whiskey as well. “Created in collaboration with McLean’s Artist Malts, this limited-edition artwork marries contemporary sculpture with rare Scotch whisky in a collectible new form”.

“Paul McCarthy (b. 1945, Utah, USA) is one of the most influential and subversive voices in contemporary American art. Known for his transgressive performances, videos, and visceral sculptures, McCarthy’s work interrogates culture, taboo, and mass media through grotesquerie, satire, and absurdity. The project began in 2014, when artist Liam Scully visited McCarthy in Los Angeles shortly after the controversy of Tree. The two discussed creating a whisky-based edition, and McCarthy proposed transforming the Tree form into a sculptural vessel — one that would both contain and become the whisky” – Well whack for my daddy as we dance around the architecture of it all again. I mean yes, the original ‘tree’ was kind of amusing, especially in Paris for some reason or other and holy merde, qu’est-ce que c’est? That’s no Christmas tree, but here in East London, distilled down to some kind of distilled whiskey bottle? Taking the p almost as much as Gavin Turk’s cans of piss, c’est la vie… Here’s another #43SecondFilm…

Union Gallery is found at 94 Teesdale Street, London, E2 6PU. The gallery is open midday until 6pm, Thursday to Saturday. Paul McCarthy : Tree Green Plug Bottle Whisky Bucket Black is on until 6th July, 2025

Previously on these pages…

ORGAN THING: Medusa, a group show at East London’s Union Gallery, an exhibition that reimagines Medusa not as a monster, but as an emblem of resistance against patriarchal and authoritative oppression so we’re told…

ORGAN THING: Jen Orpin, We Left Nothing Behind at East London’s Union Gallery, sometimes it is just about the pure pleasure of walking in to a gallery and just standing there and quietly enjoying paint, paintings, painter and place…

ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile and yes, the colours are far far brighter than those that usually fill the darker world of dominance and submission..

As always, do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show…