Cynthia Dorothy Albritton (May 24, 1947 – April 21, 2022), better known by the pseudonym Cynthia Plaster Caster, was an American visual artist and self-described "recovering groupie" who gained fame for creating plaster casts of celebrities' erect penises. Albritton began her career in 1968 by casting penises of rock musicians. She later expanded her subjects to include filmmakers and other types of artists, eventually amassing a collection of 50 plaster phalluses. In 2000, she began casting female artists'

breast The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

Biography

Albritton was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In the late 1960s, she became active in the

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...

and

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

subcultures. Albritton studied at the University of Illinois Chicago. In college, when her art teacher gave the class an assignment to "plaster cast something solid that could retain its shape", she had the idea to create a lifecast of an erect

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

, which would then become flaccid and exit the mold. She created molds using alginate, and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

was the first celebrity that she made a cast of.

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

found the concept of her casts both humorous and creative, though he himself had no interest in having his penis cast. Zappa became a patron of Albritton and moved her to Los Angeles. In 1971, after her apartment was burgled, Zappa and Albritton entrusted her casts to

Herb Cohen Herbert Cohen (December 30, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was an American personal manager, record company executive, and music publisher, best known as the manager of Judy Henske, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Odetta, Tom Waits, Geor ...

for safekeeping. Albritton sought to create an art exhibition of her casts, but did not have enough participants. She made no new casts between 1971 and 1980. In 1993, Albritton filed a lawsuit against Cohen because he would not return the casts that she had given him for safekeeping. She got all but three back. In 2000, Albritton held her first exhibition of the casts in New York City. She also decided to begin casting women's breasts. In 2009, Albritton won the Rob Pruitt Award at the first annual Guggenheim Art Awards, held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She was a candidate for mayor of Chicago in the 2011 election on the "Hard Party" ticket. Albritton died from cerebrovascular disease at a care facility in Chicago on April 21, 2022, at the age of 74. Shortly before her death, Albritton donated a copy of her 1968 plaster cast of

's erect penis to the Icelandic Phallological Museum.

Legacy

Albritton's life has served as inspiration for multiple pieces of media, such as '' Good Girls Revolt'', '' The Banger Sisters'', and '' Drive-Away Dolls''. In 2001, a documentary film, '' Plaster Caster'', was made about her. She also contributed to the 2005 BBC Three documentary ''My Penis and I'', made by British filmmaker Lawrence Barraclough about his anxiety over his penis size. She inspired the songs " Five Short Minutes" by Jim Croce and " Plaster Caster" by Kiss. She is also mentioned in Momus' song " The Penis Song" and the

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

song "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo". Albritton's voice features in a recorded telephone conversation in the album '' Permanent Damage'' by The GTOs

List of casts

Source:

Men

*0002 Joel Coplon (February 16, 1968), friend *0003 Al Hernandez (February 18, 1968), friend *0004

(February 25, 1968), guitarist – The Jimi Hendrix Experience *0005 Noel Redding (March 30, 1968), bass player – The Jimi Hendrix Experience *0006 Don Ogilvie (May 5, 1968), road manager – Mandala (band) *0007 Bob Pridden (August 1, 1968), road manager and engineer – The Who *0008 Eric Burdon (September 3, 1969), singer – The Animals (mold failure, no cast) *0009 Richard Cole (November 26, 1968), tour manager – Led Zeppelin *0010 Dennis Thompson (February 26, 1969), drummer – MC5 *0011 Wayne Kramer (February 26, 1969), guitarist – MC5 *0012 Frank Cook (March 31, 1969), drummer – Pacific Gas & Electric (band) *0013 Fritz Richmond (May 12, 1969), washtub bass player – Jim Kweskin Jug Band *0014 Michael Vestey (May 30, 1969), record producer *0015 Bob Grant (June 5, 1969), conservative radio host *0016 Anthony Newley (June 7, 1969), singer/songwriter *0017 Danay West (June 11, 1969), manager – Iron Butterfly (never returned by Cohen) *0018 Eddie Brigati (June 23, 1969), singer – The Rascals *0019 Barry Bono (June 23, 1969), road manager – The Rascals (never returned by Cohen) *0020 Harvey Mandel (July 10, 1969), guitarist *0021 Lee Mallory (July 22, 1969), singer/songwriter *0022 Doug Dillard (July 27, 1969), banjo player – The Dillards (mold failure, no cast) *0023 John Barr (July 30, 1969), bass player – The Churls *0024 Tony Stevens (September 7, 1969), bass player – Foghat, Savoy Brown (never returned by Cohen) *0025 Keef Hartley (September 8, 1969), drummer – Keef Hartley Band, others (mold failure, no cast) *0026 Keith Webb (September 9, 1969), drummer – Terry Reid *0027 Bob Henrit (April 30, 1970), drummer – Argent (band), The Kinks *0028 Zal Yanovsky (July 14, 1970), singer/guitarist – The Lovin' Spoonful *0032 Aynsley Dunbar (September 30, 1970), drummer – The Mothers of Invention, Journey (band), others *0033 Ricky Fataar (October 28, 1971), drummer – Beach Boys, Bonnie Raitt, The Rutles *0034 Smutty Smiff (Steven Douglas Smith) (October 12, 1980), bass player – Levi and the Rockats (mold failure, no cast) *0035 John Smothers (November 29, 1980), bodyguard –

*0036 Ivan Karamazov (Howard Jay Patterson) (June 11, 1981), juggler – The Flying Karamazov Brothers *0037 Shane Eason (January 22, 1982), drummer –

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1979. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly "Turn Me Loose (Loverboy song), Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still hear ...

*0038 Mary Byker (Ian Garfield Hoxley) (April 16, 1988), singer – Gaye Bykers on Acid *0039 Jon Langford (June 29, 1988), singer/guitarist – The Mekons, The Three Johns *0040 Chris Connelly (September 8, 1988), singer – Revolting Cocks,

Ministry (band) Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1981 by producer, singer, and instrumentalist Al Jourgensen. Originally a synth-pop outfit, Ministry evolved into one of the pioneers of industrial rock and industria ...

*0043 Clint Poppie ( Clint Mansell) (September 30, 1989) singer – Pop Will Eat Itself *0044 Terryll Loffler (June 30, 1990), filmmaker *0045 Brian St. Clair (February 19, 1991), drummer – Rights of the Accused, Triple Fast Action, Local H *0047 Jello Biafra (Eric Reed Boucher) (April 29, 1991), singer – Dead Kennedys *0048 Pete Shelley (Peter McNeish) (November 10, 1991), singer/songwriter/guitarist – Buzzcocks (mold failure, no cast) *0049 Bart Flores (August 8, 1993), drummer – Wreck (band), Pigface *0050 Ronnie Barnett (August 9, 1993) bass player – The Muffs *0051 Richard Lloyd (May 11, 1994), guitarist – Television (band), Matthew Sweet *0052 Mike Diana (March 3, 1995), cartoonist *0054 Martin Atkins (February 21, 1996), drummer – Public Image Limited, Killing Joke, Pigface,

, Nine Inch Nails *0057 Russ Forster (September 29, 1997), filmmaker, fanzine writer, label owner Underdog Records, multi-instrumentalist with Spongetunnel, engineer for Screeching Weasel *0060 Momus (Nick Currie) (February 14, 1998), singer/songwriter *0062 Jake Shillingford (December 18, 1999), singer – My Life Story *0065 Danny Doll Rod (Dan Kroha) (March 15, 2000), guitarist – Demolition Doll Rods *0067 Billy Dolan (April 2, 2000), guitarist – Five Style *0069 David Yow (August 6, 2000), actor, singer/bassist – The Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid *0071 Bobby Conn (Jeffrey Stafford) (January 18, 2001), singer/songwriter/guitarist *0073 Lawrence Barraclough (September 26, 2004), filmmaker (of ''My Penis and I'') *0074 Lawrence Barraclough (September 26, 2004), filmmaker *0075 Ariel Pink (Ariel Marcus Rosenberg) (February 19, 2006), singer/songwriter *0077 Lias Kaci Saoudi (March 20, 2014), singer – Fat White Family

Women

*00001 Suzi Gardner (May 28, 2000), singer/guitarist – L7 *00002 Suzi Gardner (May 28, 2000), singer/guitarist – L7 *00003 Christine Doll Rod (Christine Gomoll) (August 26, 2000), drummer – Demolition Doll Rods *00004 Christine Doll Rod (Christine Gomoll) (August 26, 2000), drummer – Demolition Doll Rods *00005 Margaret Doll Rod (Margaret Gomoll) (August 26, 2000), singer/guitarist – Demolition Doll Rods *00006 Margaret Doll Rod (Margaret Gomoll) (August 26, 2000), singer/guitarist – Demolition Doll Rods *00007 Monica BouBou (January 18, 2001), singer/violinist – Wife of Bobby Conn *00008 Monica BouBou (January 18, 2001), singer/violinist – Wife of Bobby Conn *00009 Lætitia Sadier (January 28, 2001), singer/keyboardist – Stereolab *00010 Lætitia Sadier (January 28, 2001), singer/keyboardist – Stereolab *00011 Peaches (Merrill Beth Nisker) (May 9, 2001), singer *00012 Peaches (Merrill Beth Nisker) (May 9, 2001), singer *00013 Sally Timms (May 30, 2001), singer – The Mekons *00014 Sally Timms (May 30, 2001), singer – The Mekons *00023 Stephanie Barber (February 9, 2002), artist *00024 Stephanie Barber (February 9, 2002), artist *00027 Karen O (Karen Lee Orzolek) (May 1, 2003), singer – Yeah Yeah Yeahs *00028 Karen O (Karen Lee Orzolek) (May 1, 2003), singer – Yeah Yeah Yeahs *00029 Cynthia Plaster Caster (self) (May 26, 2013), artist *00030 Cynthia Plaster Caster (self) (May 26, 2013), artist *00031 Cynthia Plaster Caster (self) (May 26, 2013), artist *00032 Cynthia Plaster Caster (self) (May 26, 2013), artist *00033 Jan Terri (December 15, 2013), singer/songwriter *00034 Jan Terri (December 15, 2013), singer/songwriter

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaster Caster, Cynthia 1947 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Artists from Chicago Candidates in the 2011 United States elections Neurological disease deaths in Illinois Groupies Pigface members University of Illinois Chicago alumni Human penis Penile erection 20th-century American women sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American women sculptors 21st-century American sculptors American erotic artists