Danny McDonaldNightmare ScenariosFebruaryFeb 18th - MarchMar 25th, 2017Gaga L.A.
Perched atop an oversized Coke bottle, a skeletal Ronald McDonald clown greets his own finitude with a big, face- painted smile. The Last Mexican Coke, 2017, is an allegorical End of Times scenario, still recycling after all is lost. Other compact tableaux involve an arms-dealing troll about to hit the panic button, a predatorial fish devouring a cute Pixar fish, a channel surfing zombie, Darth Vader snuffing out or gay bashing Pee Wee Herman, and a group portrait of Trump’s all-white, all-male nightmare cabinet. Altering and hacking readymade characters taken from the place where Hollywood meets low brow merchandising and our stoned, media-addled imaginations, McDonald crafts meme-like arrangements that do a lot with almost nothing. These are deviant little blockbusters made of the commonest trash. Doctored action figures transitioning and mutating at the edge of familiarity are set into stunning, startling, sometimes charming and endearing compositions that tell the great story of Steve Bannon’s Fourth Turning, or a nation’s possession and date rape by the forces of chaos, after which it’s reborn miraculously from its own ashes as a posthuman community under the sign of the clown-eagle-skull, sans immigrants, sans queers, sans brains. Turning one’s gaze from Danny McDonald’s haunted house of horrors to the reality TV outside the gallery’s colorized windows, MacArthur Park and the skyscrapers of downtown L.A. in the distance are bathed in a sickeningly gorgeous blood orange.
Danny McDonald (b. Los Angeles, CA 1971) is an artist living and working in New York City. McDonald recently had solo exhibitions in Maccarone, New York; House of Gaga, Mexico City; and group exhibitions at Migros Museum, Zurich and Sculpture Center, New York.
Installation
views
Works
Danny McDonald
Channel Surfing, 2017
Vinyl action figure, metal chain, remote control, porcelain wave, pedestal
9 x 8 x 14 inches
22.9 x 20.3 x 35.6 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 11 x 11 x 41 inches
27.9 x 27.9 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Trigger Finger, 2017
Vinyl figure, plastic weapons, resin tree, pedestal
10 x 9 x 15 inches
25.4 x 22.9 x 38.1 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 41 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Trolling, 2017
Vinyl and fabric action figure, resin dolphin, cotton netting, pedestal
9 x 11 x 13 inches
22.9 x 27.9 x 33 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 11 x 11 x 41 inches
27.9 x 27.9 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Questionable Selfie, 2017
Resin, vinyl and plastic action figures, fabric, pedestal
10 x 8 x 12 inches
25.4 x 20.3 x 30.5 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 41 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Science Fiction vs. Comedy, 2017
Vinyl, plastic and fabric action figures, pedestal
12.5 x 16 x 31 inches
31.8 x 40.6 x 78.7 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 45 inches
33 x 33 x 114.3 cm
Danny McDonald
Eating Nemo, 2017
Driftwood, plastic toys, pedestal
15 x 9 x 12 inches
38.1 x 22.9 x 30.5 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 41 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Healthcare Cuts, 2017
Plastic moon model, plastic hospital gurney, plastic and vinyl action figures, pedestal
10 x 10 x 9 inches
25.4 x 25.4 x 22.9 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 41 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Political Junk Food, 2017
Potato chip tin, plastic potato chips, painted plastic hand and head, wig hair, printed cardboard hat, pedestal
12 x 12 x 27 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 68.6 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 37 inches
33 x 33 x 94 cm
Danny McDonald
Pumpkin in a Mask in a Mask, 2017
Foam pumpkin, plastic masks, pedestal
19 x 8 x 10 inches
48.3 x 20.3 x 25.4 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 41 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
The Last Mexican Coke, 2017
Jumbo glass Coke bottle, plexiglass, resin and vinyl action figure, pedestal
7 x 7 x 26.5 inches
17.8 x 17.8 x 67.3 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 41 inches
30.5 x 30.5 x 104.1 cm
Danny McDonald
Cabinet of Doom, 2017
Various plastic, vinyl and fabric action figures, plastic and vinyl staircase from The Matrix, pedestal
9.5 x 12 x 13 inches
24.1 x 30.5 x 33 cm
Plinth Dimensions: 6 x 9.6 x 11.5 inches
15.2 x 24.4 x 29.2 cm
Danny McDonald
Evolution in a Manger, 2017
Plastic figures, wooden model
Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 8 inches
30.5 x 22.9 x 20.3 cm
Danny McDonald
Forced to Sell Artwork from Personal Collection in Order to Offset Living Expenses, Questionable Provenance Limits Resale Opportunities (The Scream), 2016
Wood, brick, plexiglas, plastic & fabric action figure, printed paper and aluminum
10.83 x 7.99 x 3.35 inches
27.5 x 20.3 x 8.5 cm