Hugo McCloud
— The Arts Club, London 29 April — 16 September 2015

This is the debut UK exhibition of Brooklyn-based artist Hugo McCloud, who presents new large-scale works produced for The Arts Club’s Drawing Room.

Hugo McCloud draws on his background in design and construction in his work, relocating heavy-duty industrial materials to a fine art context. Working into the surface of the picture plane with a range of unconventional tools such as hammers and blowtorches, McCloud creates seductive, abstract paintings composed of a range of traditional and found materials.

The visceral, physical process of fabricating the works is central to their aesthetic. First laying a base of heavy-duty tar paper on the floor of his studio, McCloud builds up layer upon layer of a range of different materials, from aluminium foil to richly coloured oil paint. Scorching, sanding, corroding and ultimately transforming the surface, McCloud works up textures until the painting is densely populated with pattern and form.  

McCloud’s practice incorporates techniques learnt whilst travelling in countries such as India, where he was taught by experts in traditional local crafts, such as woodblock carving. Combining these skills and aesthetics with the effects of Western industry, McCloud creates striking and complex abstract works that require the viewer to look again at common utilitarian materials which might in another context have been discarded.

The exhibition is curated by Amelie von Wedel and Pernilla Holmes of Wedel Art.