Richard MacDonald seems to be the figurative artist of Las Vegas. I hadn’t anticipated finding much figurative work in a place where abstract art is so prominent, but I was pleasantly surprised to come across Richard MacDonald’s gallery (both of them).

In the picture above, I am standing in front of the new gallery in the City Center. If I hadn’t been racing to a buffet, I would have also liked to walk through his other gallery located in the Bellagio. His website gives a good overview of his work.

www.richardmacdonald.com

Richard MacDonald is viewed by some to be the “foremost figurative sculptor working today.” His bronze sculptures show the power, grace and beauty of the athletes, ballerinas, mimes and nymphs, that the artist chooses as his subjects.

Born in California, MacDonald was enrolled as a painter at Art Center School of Design in Pasadena, where he developed his penchant for the human form. The use of athletic musculature underneath skin and under clothes earned a name as an accomplished illustrator; with placements in the NFL and NBA Halls of Fame and the National Art Museum of Sport. From the two-dimensional surface of the drawing board to the three-dimensional, kinetic feel of clay, the artist evolved. Exploring the same musculature, now in three dimensions, that he used in his two dimensional works. He found them taking on an almost weightless feel. Once translated into bronze these works took on a dimension even he didn’t expect, permanence.

MacDonald recently gained worldwide recognition for sculpting “Flair Across America” a monumental 26-foot tall bronze installed in Centennial Park, Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games. “The `Flair’ celebrates the tenacity involved in the pursuit of excellence while promoting an appreciation for the arts within diverse communities.” The trek that the artist embarked on brought this monument from his studio in California across the United States, stopping in cities to educate people on the importance of figurative art in today’s society. “Flair” was modeled on Kurt Thomas, the athlete who popularized the “flair” move in Olympic competition. “It single-handedly brought figurative monumental sculpture back into the American art scene that one saw it as too sentimental. Too moving to be art.”

Source:
Reed Van Horth, Robin Rile Fine Art