On Friday November 30, 2012, Kevin McHugh debuted his Pucci-inspired collection at The Out NYC hotel in New York City. McHugh, along with co-hosts Patricia Field and Danny Tenaglia, toasted the collection with a private opening party featuring Svedka cocktails, music by DJ Alex Perez, and the support of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS and Avant Gallery. The night was filled with animated guests. The after-party, at XL nightclub was quite interesting! Let’s just say it involved drag queens and performances. Quite the extravagant after-party if you ask me. The collection will remain on display through December 2nd and will be open to the public, after which it will be showcased at the Avant Gallery in Miami for an Art Basel presentation.
As a child, artist Kevin McHugh’s first encounter with his creative inspiration was with his father, who often took the family on fishing expeditions. A growing love for the water, and the creatures that lived within it, was further fostered when a gift for his father, a bottle of Avon cologne, was ornamented with a graceful billfish. It was at that moment that Kevin McHugh recognized his own fascination with the beauty of such sea creatures, and where his career as an artist began to unfold.
McHugh, who is well known on the nightlife, music and fashion circuits as a talent manager, has been crafting hand-sculpted fiberglass fish and sharks in his East Village studio for the past five years. These pieces are then brought to life with leather, pearls, silver studs, and most recently, Swarovski crystals. Each one-of-a-kind piece takes an average of four months to create and bears 40,000-60,000 Swarovski crystals, all hand placed to create a mesmerizing replication of the subjects McHugh is ever captivated with.
As conservation has been a forefront focus for McHugh since he began sculpting, a portion of the proceeds from this new collection will benefit the Billfish Foundation. Commercial fishing fleets are over-fishing billfish, and McHugh has made a commitment to donate a portion of all sales to organizations that promote billfish conservation in hopes that he can make a difference.
Fans of McHugh’s work include Patricia Field, Wendy Williams and Danny Tenaglia, and his sculptures can be seen all over the world, including at The Cove Atlantis and at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Armenia.
Kevin McHugh’s Manhattan exhibit will be on display at The Out NYC, located at 510 West 42nd Street, from November 30th – December 2nd. For more information regarding Kevin McHugh and his work, please visit www.mchughnyc.com.
Photo Credit: GuestofaGuest.com (Steve Zak)
-Phaon Spurlock, The Southern Gentleman
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