Richard MacDonald: red follows the artist’s use of this common structure throughout his career from the appearance of red in early original drawings including Study of a Young Dancer 1998 to the 2015 red veiling of the iconic work Blind Faith Heroic. Yin & Yang and Aurora, both created in 2014, initiated the technique that was later to evolve into a deep exploration of the role that color plays in figurative sculpture. Beyond the spectral survey that is apparent, the governing theme that traces its message throughout the exhibition is the evocative power of the color red.
The point of departure for the exhibition is a written composition by MacDonald himself. red reveals the artist’s approach to the color, including essential points of intersection at emotional, visceral and inspirational levels. Included in the exhibition’s print invitations to collectors, red is printed on the gallery walls. It highlights MacDonald’s polymath approach to his art, from the visual aesthetic to the esoteric and the philosophical.
Red
It is the most stimulating color in human psychology.
meaning and emotional responses are complex and diverse
controlling and liberating
energy, love, hyper, sensuousness, happiness, good fortune
Red is the color of our Life's Force.
The color red in my work excites me, along with the forms, the beauty,
the concepts and the psychology it entices.
the freedom of human spirit
The color red permeates humanity and stimulates optimism.
A joy and a sensuousness that is the very color that runs through our
veins
our very Life force
-Richard MacDonald
