Hugo McCloud

"Veiled"

Sean Kelly

New York, 475 Tenth Avenue

In his second exhibition at Sean Kelly, the Brooklyn-based artist Hugo McCloud introduces twenty large-scale works, occupying the gallery’s large scale upper Chelsea location. The artist’s two-month residency at Bellas Artes Projects in the Philippines is a major inspiration behind these compelling abstract mixed-media paintings that merge unconventional, and often time chemical, materials with traditional notions of beauty and transcendence. Last year, the artist was included in A Constellation, the Studio Museum in Harlem’s expansive group exhibition that brought together a group of established names of African-American descent with a selection of young artists who had their Studio Museum debut.

HUGO MCCLOUD golden wings fly low, 2016 aluminum foil, aluminum coating and oil paint on tar paper © Hugo McCloud, courtesy Sean Kelly, New York

The namesake Veiled series, for example, introduces aluminum foil to orchestrate an absorbing conversation with its audience. Facing their own reflection on vivid texture of these color-rich surfaces, the audience delves into a contemplative journey in which the shattered mirror-like reflection on foil suggests introspection as well as an alternative approach to figuration. Coming from industrial design background, McCloud questions notions of urban decay, changing architectural forms, and visual abundance. His employment of industrial and utilitarian materials in subversive techniques comment on rapid shift in aesthetic standards and public’s response to constant flow of visual data. Coinciding with the exhibition is a ninety-six-page catalog co-published by Sean Kelly and Hatje Cantz Verlag, featuring an essay by Isolde Brielmaier.

On view through January 21, 2017