HUGO MCCLOUD at LUCE GALLERY, Turin, Italy

Luce Gallery, based in Turin, Italy and founded in 2009 by Nikola Cernetic, is exhibiting work by Hugo McCloud, an artist known for his innovative use of materials and textures in his figurative and abstract compositions, which have included tar, aluminum sheeting, and oxidized steel plates. Recently, McCloud is most known for his manipulation of the single-use plastic bags that he gathers from the streets and then gives new use as the materials of his canvases. It seems almost impossible that the plastic bags many of us have used and discarded could become material for stunningly beautiful paintings, yet McCloud renders compelling scenes in vibrant colors over and over again.

McCloud’s figures are less about individuals than archetypes, namely the often-unseen class of laborers and street vendors who are essential to the urban fabric. There is often the feeling of transit, mobility, and a sort of burden. People are carrying things, holding things, often at the same scale or larger than the figures themselves. His works contain commentaries of societies, identities, environments, exploitations, and labor, and his ability to tackle this complex subject matter and create something beautiful is laudatory.

–Darryl Ratcliff