Jason Rhoades’ Black Pussy Cocktail Coffee Table Book

Edited by Alex Israel. Text by Kevin West

The installation and interactive performance Black Pussy formed part of the artist’s “Pussy Trilogy,” which also encompassed Meccatuna (2003) and My Madinah: In pursuit of my ermitage… (2004). Evoking the style of the coffee table social diary, the catalogue documents the events, known as Black Pussy Soirée Cabaret Macramé, held in the artist’s Los Angeles studio in 2006. Amidst the chrome trolleys, neon signs, dream catchers, cowboy hats, hookah pipes, and camel saddles which partially constitute the installation, guests were invited to contribute to Rhoades’s ongoing project of creating a cross-cultural compendium of euphemisms for female genitalia. Evolving to fit each location, the installation debuted at Hauser & Wirth in 2005 and traveled to David Zwirner in 2007. The catalogue, conceived by and designed in conjunction with the artist, includes a foreword by Kevin West, West Coast editor of W magazine, as well as photographs by Joshua White and Alexia Pilat.