Thomas McDonell Spotlights Utilitarian Charm in 'Figueroa St. Paintings’
Giving artistic life to the overlooked and unseen.
Europa presents a solo exhibition by Thomas McDonell featuring a new suite of paintings and sculptures. For Figueroa St. Paintings, the actor-turned-artist widens a curious eye toward an ever-changing Los Angeles, finding creative life in utilitarian materials.
For McDonell, the pleasure is in the pragmatic. Traces of scratching fingernails on the surface of the canvas suggest a clash between the artist and his work, as confident gestures and handprints are held together in thick layers of discarded industrial house paint.
Painting and sculpture bleed into one another through the artist’s textural approach. In the center of the gallery lay ceramic pieces, adorned in calligraphic grooves and a rich inky glaze. The supporting pedestals are crafted out of newspaper rolls, sourced from the Los Angeles Flower Market where they are used to wrap bouquets.
Figueroa St. Paintings conjures the Japanese philosopher and aesthete Soetsu Yanagi, searching for beauty in everyday objects. Inspired by an old temple just down the road from his studio on Figueroa street, McDonnell meditates on his immediate environment as it becomes molded and shaped by the passage of time.
The exhibition is on view at Europa in New York through October 13, 2024.
Europa
125 Division St,
New York, NY 10002
