Midwest Goodbyes//Other Forms of Dry Humor

Oscar McDonah - Midwest Goodbyes // Other Forms of Dry Humor

VIEW THE EXHIBITION Ι February 19, 2024 to March 1, 2024

Swift Gallery ι Breidenstine Hall (3rd Floor)
Reception ι
  Monday, February 19, 2024 (6:00 - 8:00 pm)
Artist Talk ι February 19th, 6:30 pm

 

Gallery Hours ι  Standard business hours for Swift Gallery are Monday - Friday from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. Hours are subject to vary in accordance with University established holidays (below) and the reception, gallery talk/s or awards ceremony.

About the Exhibition ...

Midwest Goodbyes // Other Forms of Dry Humor is Oscar McDonah's most recent body of work showcasing their exploration of dry humor through sculptural installations.  Each of the sculptural works are intended to interact with the gallery environment, if not create their own environment entirely through attention to and utilization of scale in relation to the viewer's space.  Each sculpture is crafted with the intent of creating a segment from an imagined environment, often associated with the context of circuses, juxtaposition of domestic materials from industrial materials, or the altering of preestablished conceptions of familiar spaces.

Oscar has taken association with the statement, "if you can't make it good, make it big and make it red," to another level of identification and switched out red for colors they like more (including cosmic pink).

About the Artist ...

Born in Toledo, Ohio and raised in Tempe, Arizona, Oscar McDonah now resides in Lancaster Pennsylvania as a multimedia sculpture artist and front of house lighting designer.  Oscar will be graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentrataion in fine art metals and jewelry.  Through their practices in both sculpture and lighting design Oscar found that their artistic pursuit aligns with a focus on environment and how they can create interactions with such through large-scale sculptural works including lighting and projection mapping.  Through exploration of installation art, Oscar has found themself influenced by artists including Andre Heller, specifically his contributions to and organization of Luna Luna, as well as Yayoi Kusama, and Richie Brown.  McDonah's sculpture works often resemble bisections of imagined environments that are able to exist within their own defined architectures.  Oscar has also made it a point to often embed humor into their pieces, whether inherently humorous or subtle, often juxtaposing materials, functionality, and exaggerated use of color.