Ian McMahon: Coalition

Coalition relies on Practice Gallery as both stage and placeholder, utilizing it as an arena to highlight an action-centric artwork. Inflatable molds, armatures, doorways, fans and an air-lock antechamber were engineered and designed specifically to create the artwork displayed in the gallery. This infrastructure was developed off site and formatted to efficiently transport and reassemble on location. In a four-day install, McMahon will construct this new and unique artwork by transforming air-filled molds into thin voluminous hardened plaster casts. The resulting structures belie sight. Forms appearing soft and malleable reveal their material anchor, interrupting the gallery’s architecture, which in turn punctuates the works life span.Bio:McMahon lives and works in Newburgh, NY. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, a NYFA Artist Fellowship, and a Virginia Groot Fellowship.McMahon received his MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA in Ceramics from Alfred University. Exhibitions have included: Crane Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Pierogi: Boiler Room Brooklyn, NY; Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Omaha, NE; Suyama Space, Seattle WA; DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA. ; and Tang Contemporary, Beijing, China among others.