Paul McMahon
Born 1950, San Diego, CA

BA Fine Art; Pomona College, 1972
MS Art Education, Massachusetts College of Art, 1975
Ordination; Interfaith Minister, Center for the Living Earth, Bearsville, NY, 1996

Lives in Woodstock, NY since 1990

Paul McMahon's life mission is based on a burning desire toknow the truth, a mission begun early and continuing throughout his life. His career, or perhaps 'non-career,' is remarkable not so much for the heights of his achievements as for their breadth.

Saw Pete Seeger at 9 and decided to be a professional musician. At 15 he took lead guitar lessons from Elvin Bishop, then playing with Paul Butterfield. Received darshan from Pir Valayat, prominent Sufi sheik in 1969. Met Thomas Banyacya and heard a long talk on Hopi prophecies the following year. Also in 1970, influenced by the teaching of Stanley Crouch, he gave up blues guitar and switched his attention to conceptual art. He met John Baldessari and several CalArts students and teachers in 72.

At the age of 23 he began producing a series of over 30 one night shows of conceptual, performance and visual art at Project Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. on his salary at a gas station. These shows, mentioned in AVALANCHE, brought artists like Laurie Anderson (first Boston performance), David Salle (his first solo show), Jack Goldstein and Lawrence Weiner from New York. Helene Winer (Metropictures) hired him as Assistant Director at publicly funded Artist Space 1975-77 and he was influential in the formative stages of the scene which exploded on NY in the 80's with Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, David Salle, Sherrie Levine and many others. Of that time David Salle says, "The key intelligence at Artists Space was always Paul McMahon and his intelligence was humor."

On 7/7/77 he left the art gallery business to become an artist instead of art administrator. His performance of the floor show in a make-believe nightclub called I'M WITH STUPID at the Kitchen Center later that year led to an invitation to join DAILY LIFE, a no wave art band with Glenn Branca and Barbara Ess.

He and Nancy Chunn organized the PARTY CLUB at Franklin Furnace over Christmas-New Year's 1978-9. Featuring many performers in an impromptu social club format, a highlight was Cindy Sherman as the coat-check girl.

Later he formed A BAND with Wharton Tiers and put out a 45 of LOWLY WORM on Nancy Records. It was played first on Alison's 'best of 1979' indie releases show on WPIX, then New York's only 'new wave' show on commercial radio. In 1980 he created the ROCK'N'ROLL THERAPIST; a completely improvisational act where he asks audience members to tell him their problems and cures them on the spot with songs. Many problems have been mysteriously cured, even car and money issues. He started appearing on the radio in the early 80's and later became a regular guest on KTV, a kids' show with a live audience on CNBC in 1989-90 making up songs for kids in the studio audience. He currently performs on WDST-FM in Woodstock on Doug Grunther's "Roundtable."

He traveled to Europe as artist/songwriter in residence at Corps de Garde, an innovative situation in Groningen, Holland in 1981. Around this time he started inventing toys to play with his cat, Billie Blue, culminating in the patenting of Mock Mouse, the cat toy that has been his main means of support since the late 80's. A second product, Ms.'Tick' Mouse was invented in the 90's.

In 1982-3 he toured the US and Canada with Rock'n'Roll Therapist and SONG PAINTINGS, a solo musical art performance critical of the new and apparently greedier art world of the 80's. This was a collaboration with artist Nancy Chunn. "It kind of seems in retrospect like the rapacious greed syndrome which is the hallmark of the Enron Shrub found its sea legs in the coke-driven 80's art world, but I'm probably way off." He was not able to get Song Paintings exhibited in a gallery or museum installation. The tour put 11,000 miles on a rental car in 5 weeks and broke even.

In a fit of depression in 1983 he spontaneously started writing jokes about potatoes. At this time he worked part-time in the mailroom at the Muppets. They commissioned him to make a giant potato costume for their Halloween party because he was driving everyone nuts with his jokes. This evolved into a book; POTATO JOKES, published by Pocketbooks in 1984 and various other joke and comedy writing gigs, including the Muppets, MTV and Workman Press, where he authored the PAGE-A-DAY JOKES, PUNS AND RIDDLES CALENDAR for 1984 and 1985. He wore the costume on COMEDY TONIGHT on national TV, trading one-liners with the legendary Soupy Sales. The show also featured Whoopie Goldberg, in her first TV appearance. This led to a gig at the original Caroline's Comedy Club. He also appeared on the news with Morry Alter on WCBS-TV and on the ARCH CAMPBELL (DC) and JOE FRANKLIN SHOWS.
MILD STYLE, a comic short video about an incompetent white break-dancer, was distributed by Coe Films and screened often on WNET-TV in NY, 1985-6. Also in 1985 he organized a show called FUNNY ART at the Concorde Gallery in Soho with Komar & Melamid, William Wegman, Mike Smith and others. A funny photo of his used on the flyer was picked up by Fotofolio and has been distributed worldwide as a postcard ever since. He plays the disturbing clown in Wegman and Smith's "World of Photography."

His first album, PAUL McMAHON, appeared in 1986 on Neutral, the label which launched Sonic Youth. It only charted on WFMU, where he subsequently appeared often as the Rock'n'Roll Therapist.
With Nancy Chunn he co-produced the second PARTY CLUB at Franklin Furnace in the fall of 1986; a performance art festival in a faux nightclub setting. This extravaganza featured many including Linda Montano, David Leslie, Syd Straw, Joey Arias, Diplomat Samurai Band, John Miller, Ronald Feldman, Microscopic Septet, Pat Oleszco.

One of his volunteer workers, Michael Dorf, went on to found the Knitting Factory, which McMahon booked in its inception during the first few months of 1987. A solo visual art show that year at White Columns got a rave review from Carlo McCormick in ARTFORUM. The same year he produced a semi-operatic performance art piece SONG OF THE STATUES at Home, NY. Jon Pareles, writing in the NEW YORK TIMES called it,"…better than an hour of MTV." It included work by Cindy Sherman, Michel Auder and Dorit Cypis. He recorded an album of the songs from this show at Radio City Music Hall Recording Studio and released it on cassette on his label, Akashic Records and Tapes. It was paid for by the ICA in Boston, which produced the show in 1988.

His performance of one of these songs, "Bang Your Crazy Head," was praised by reviewers of MIKE'S TALENT SHOW. This 1989 Cinemax presentation hosted by Mike Smith starred Lyle Lovett and Stephen Wright. He also received initiation in Kriya Yoga from Sri Atmananda-Giri, and the darshan of Sri Hariharananda-Giri.

He received a fellowship in New Genres from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1990. He interviewed Wayne Newton for INTERVIEW Magazine and began the spiritual quest in earnest with a near-death rock climbing experience in Sedona, Arizona. That same day, 1/1/90, he was initiated into the tradition of the sweat lodge. He sought Native American teachings from Grandmother Twyla Nitsch of the Wolf Clan Teaching Lodge on the Seneca reservation in NY. There he also met Grandfather Thundercloud, who was his mentor until his passing in 1995 and encouraged him to move to Woodstock, which he did later that year, after traveling and doing ceremony in Wyoming with another shaman named Two Feathers. He moved from Brooklyn to become an intern, later artist in residence and finally Interfaith seminarian at the Wittenberg Center in Bearsville, where he was ordained in 1996 as an Interfaith minister by Beautiful Painted Arrow and the Rev. Betsy Stang.

He taught performance art in the spring of 1991 at the San Francisco Art Institute, and visited the Hopi reservation in Arizona, where he met Grandfather Titus Lemson. Long interested in the Hopi, he was exposed to Hopi prophecies when he saw Thomas Banyacya speak about them in 1970. On December 10 of 1992 he saw Banyacya again, when he addressed the United Nations, warning of the Day of Purification. In minutes New York City was hit by an unforecast 'spirit storm.' The song he wrote about it was included on WALKING IN THE DAYS OF THE PROPHECIES. Recorded at Applehead Studio with excellent local musicians, including Professor Louie, Jimmy Eppard and Randy Ciarlante of The Band. The album was finished in 1994, and self-released on cassette. A couple of songs from Prophecies are now set to be included on an upcoming compilation on legendary ESP DISC. ESP has plans to release the PROPHECIES album as well.
In 1993 he had three simultaneous art shows in Soho, at Muranushi-Lederman, Horodner-Romley and Zand, and was favorably reviewed in the NEW YORK TIMES by Roberta Smith. He sold a lot of work for relatively low prices, mostly to other artists, including Edward Albee. He also met Bhagavan Das and shortly after heard the voice of the Goddess in his head reminding him he is King of the Universe.
In 1994 he performed solo on the Eco-Stage at the Woodstock 25 concert in Saugerties. Surprisingly, pictures of him he did not know were being taken showed up on the front page of HET PAROOL, Amsterdam's daily newspaper. A Japanese camera crew looking for a representational Woodstock hippie filmed him in his apartment and aired a piece on a Japanese news show. This has yet to be translated. He also started the Dharmaware Café, Woodstock's only acoustic music venue for a few years, later called the Kathmandu.

With Magnolia Santibanez in 1995 he co-produced a weekly cable access show called DOGS ON PATROL which ran for about two years on Woodstock Public Access. He also started backing up Lakota singer/songwriter GAYLE TWO EAGLES.

In 1996 he began producing a popular series of satirical "Welcome to Woodstock" bumper stickers that make fun of the town with punchlines like, "Old Beer, Stale Hippies and Psychedelic Rednecks," "Mid-life Crisis Center of the Northeast," and "Most Famous Small Town on Earth."

The next year he started doing black & white stickers for the general market like; "My God Can Beat Up Your God," "CAR," "Inner Child In Trunk," and "How Do You Like Armageddon So Far?." Also in 97 Paul got a prank call from JAY LENO, who was pretending to answer a classified ad he and his friend had placed in the Woodstock Times;
"Position available: m/f 50 or over: Must be willing to run naked in public covered with a fine dusting of powder. No pay. No questions. No wimps."
Leno later displayed it on the Tonight Show.
In 1998 four separate and apparently unrelated requests come from Stockholm to use his photo from the Fotofolio postcard. This resulted in that image appearing in a major photography show, Under/Exposed in the Stockholm subway system, used as a comedy book cover and also in an advertising journal. Around this time he started performing songs with two young girl backup singers, Julia Nichols and Diane Penz, and did some shows in NYC.

In 1999 he traveled to South Dakota and was adopted in a huncka ceremony at a Lakota sundance, by Gayle Two Eagles. He also backed singer/songwriter Shamsi Ruhe in a few gigs, and continues to do so sporadically. He and three other Woodstock musicians formed NAKED, a band of four songwriters doing each others' work, which lasted a year or so, breaking up in 2000.

In July of 2000 he turned 50 and released QUEEN PAUL QUINQUADRIO, an improvisational collaboration with DJ 113; recorded, mixed and pressed in 24 hours. This was his deepest adventure in free-style hip-hop so far. At a concert backing up Gayle Two Eagles in September, he fell in love with 20-year-old Amanda Williams. In December he released his first CD, ARMY OF LOVE, a very eclectic compilation of old and new tracks including three recently completed by producer Shahzad Ismaily.

In January 2001 Amanda started writing songs and they formed a band called, coincidentally, ARMY OF LOVE with Emily Lopez. Their first CD, DEMO, was completed this month. They were married on Easter 2001 by Bhagavan Das and had twin girls in June. In August McMahon recorded a folk-y six song CD with Pete Caigan called WOODSTOCK WINDMILLS. In September, days after 9/11, Army of Love recorded their second CD, SERGEANT CATFISH AND GENERAL WILLIAMS, which now included Hollis Smith and a song written by her and Amanda on 9/9 called "Here Comes The War." On 9/10 he joined the Post Office and became a part-time letter carrier to provide a more stable income for the twins. A collection of his bumper stickers was included in Logoless People, a group show at the Hotel Winston in Amsterdam.

In 2002 he mastered most of his recordings onto CD and currently has 8 CDs. These are available on his web site paulmcmahon.tv. He started focusing on the American flag as a subject for art again. In 1974 he worked with the flag as a film and installation subject, available on his web site paulmcmahon.tv. He continues to perform solo and with backing musicians. Upcoming shows may be accessed from the home page of this site . In addition he began writing a virtual opinion column called BRIGADOONESBURY, Thinking a View from Woodstock, in which he comments on spiritual-political issues. It is available online at this web site by clicking on WRITING.