Gary James McQueen has spent the past year immersed in a creative reset, teaching himself new software, experimenting with digital sculpting and building what he calls his most ambitious body of work to date.
This September, McQueen will unveil a new collection at West Chelsea Contemporary located in the Clarksville neighborhood on West 6th Street, where he will show alongside Swiss artist Simon Berger.
The exhibition, running from Sept. 27 through Oct. 19, marks an evolution in McQueen’s career — one that blends digital artistry, fashion influences and mythological storytelling into a fully immersive visual experience.
“I’ve always been interested in pushing boundaries,” McQueen said. “This collection was about learning new ways of working and trying to create something that feels authentic, believable and emotive.”
A former textile and print designer for his late uncle, fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen, Gary James McQueen is known for his dark romantic aesthetic, sculptural digital works and rich visual storytelling. His latest pieces are inspired by the legend of King Midas and the tension between human ambition and the natural world.
“The whole concept is this dance between man and nature… who dominates who?” McQueen said. “The gold flowers in the sculptures represent that Midas touch, but also my own touch as an artist, creating a new balance between form and flora.”
The 20-piece collection encompasses a range of work, from intimate tabletop sculptures to six-foot-high portraits. The pieces are digitally sculpted and produced as lenticular prints, giving them shifting dimensionality as viewers move around them. A rich color palette of black, gold, coral, teal and alabaster threads throughout the show creates a signature mood that McQueen describes as “melancholic yet romantic.”
Notable works include Love Struck, featuring Venus pierced by an arrow — a symbol of missed chances and finding love — and Perseverance, a hand grasping for an apple. At the same time, a serpent coils around the wrist, reflecting the artist’s own creative struggles.
“I want the work to feel immersive,” McQueen said. “Style is about atmosphere and emotion. All I can hope is that when people stand in front of it, they feel something.”
For more information about this gallery exhibition, please visit wcc.art.
“The whole concept is this dance between man and nature… who dominates who?”