MARCH 9 - 11, 17 - 18

HOURS: 11AM - 6PM
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, March 8, 2018, 8:30 – 10:30PM

Hugo McCloud in conversation  with Jeffrey Grove, Director of Museums and Publications, Saturday, March 24th at 2 PM. 

Sean Kelly is delighted to present Hugo McCloud Metal Paintings at a space in Brooklyn during Armory Week. For this special exhibition, the artist and the gallery have transformed a raw industrial space into Sean Kelly BK. Located at 420b Troutman Street in Bushwick, the exhibition will be open March 9-11, and March 17-18 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm. 

Exclusively for the opening preview, Thursday, March 8 from 8:30 – 10:30 pm, McCloud will stage an action in the space, accompanied by colleagues using welding equipment and other tools to create a dynamic environment that references the artistic and industrial processes used to create these works. RSVP essential. Subject to capacity.

This unusual site provides the context for this exciting new suite of paintings. McCloud has been recognized for his sophisticated and exuberant use of color and innovative techniques in bodies of work referred to as the “stamped” and “veiled” paintings, typified by their vibrant and at times reflective surfaces. The Metal Paintings signal a dramatic and exciting departure, both formally and aesthetically, while at the same time marking a return to utilizing materials and processes that McCloud first explored in the late 2000s. 

Settling into his first studio in Bushwick in 2008, McCloud was surrounded by the tools and language familiar from his training in industrial design. His first “paintings” were a reflection of that environment, comprising scrap metal, solder, chemical patinas, and welders. He would solder bronze panels together and then abrade the surface and treat it with ferric nitrate, cupric nitrate, iron oxide, or other acids. These chemicals were poured, sprayed, wiped and heated with a torch to create rich variations in tone and color. As McCloud notes, “a sander and chemicals became my paint and brush.” Re-approaching these materials with the time, maturity, and experience the ensuing years provided has resulted in this beautiful, evocative, and powerful new series.

McCloud feels that these works are not only a reflection of “the people I am in constant contact with,” but also reveal his hands-on experience with materials. Inspired by the rawness of his surroundings and the urban landscape, McCloud’s process is instinctive and physical; he literally tames his unconventional materials, working on the floor, sanding, hammering and torching their surfaces, subduing their toughness into something approaching delicacy. To exhibit these paintings together for the first time, the artist wanted a space of “uncomfortable contrasts, like the materials;” therefore, Sean Kelly BK remains a largely unfinished space, minimally altered for this exhibition.

Following the opening, the party continues across the street at Lot 45, 411 Troutman Street, with a DJ Set by Jillionaire and open bar from 10:30 – late.

On Saturday, March 24 at 2:00 pm, Hugo McCloud will engage in a public dialogue with gallery director Jeffrey Grove in the space.

Join the conversation on social media
@SeanKellyNY @SeanKellyBK #SKBK #HugoMcCloud