Hugo McCloud on Painting with Plastic

Pushing the bounds of what a material can do is the basis of Hugo McCloud’s art. He has worked with numerous substances, primarily industrial and discarded, such as tar paper and scrap metal. Plastic—in the form of single-use plastic bags—is the medium of his latest “paintings,” on view in the solo exhibition “Burdened” at Sean Kelly in New York through February 27. Drawn to the colors and logos printed on plastic bags that he encountered in his travels,