Will McLeod & Mark Allen

Will McLeod is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Hudson, NY. He works in two mediums, paintings on paper and large machine-sewn textiles.

The paintings channel a primal mood, depicting observations of his surroundings. Will maps these with grids to transform into meticulously planned, seamed cloth panels that look like a conventional painter’s finished canvas, or stained-glass windows.

Showcased in this exhibition are two bodies of work: the textiles Bubbling Over and Under, Showing is Growing, and his Blood Paintings series.  

These works contain segregation of subject matter and mood. In Bubbling and Showing, black linework fence off romantic water-colored bodies from sick sections of lurid coloration or snaking darkness. The Blood Paintings use red drippy boundaries to graphically delineate the wildness into compartments. 

McLeod’s aim for all these works (whether the painting on paper or the large textiles) is to push and question what the viewer will accept within a composition.  The scenes pulse and connect to the audience with lyricism and vibrancy, while the subject matter is disagreeable, rebelliously folding it’s meaning over on itself.

Mark Allen is a multimedia artist living in Hudson NY. In this exhibition is a selection of his video satires mocking Hudson, with titles like his dysfunctional musical video, The Hudson Song, as well as experimental pieces like Will McLeod Walks Through Hudson, where he filmed Will walking backwards through the entire length of Warren Street during a crowded 2021 Winter Walk. Earlier parodies of ASMR and Mukbang videos from Mark’s YouTube channel are also featured, like Ronald McDonald Tries Kale! Mark also photographs and documents food thrown away in the tourist streets of Hudson and creates sculptures out of dog poop left illegally on sidewalks, designed to be exhibited until it is removed by the city. Mark’s primary medium is video and social media parody, and he considers the streets and public spaces of Hudson, NY his studio.

Artist websites : Mark + Will