Traveling between the worlds of NY nightlife, fashion and music Kevin McHugh became a fixture of them all. After decades of managing the careers of influential artists and DJ’s such as Nicole Moudaber (Coachella 2014) and Danny Tenaglia (Coachella 2008), artist Kevin McHugh began a personal artistic exploration of his own along the way.
Inspired by his fishing trips with his father as a child, Kevin developed an interest in the beauty of sea life. He began creating fiberglass renditions of sailfish and sharks, adorned with different materials: everything from iridescent mother of pearl and brilliant Swarovski crystals to leather and lacquer. The pieces are meant to change the way people perceive the notion of trophy fish by transforming them into stunning works of art.
Conservancy and education has always been a part of Kevin’s work, and he has worked closely with conservation groups such as Shark Savers, The Billfish Foundation and the Ibiza Preservation Society. His next art/conservation project is slated for the UAE in conjunction with the WWF and will be focused on sea turtles. He has had 4 successful Art Basel shows courtesy of www.avantgallery.com.
A one-of-a-kind fiberglass Mako shark sculpture, covered in over 6,000 glass mirror tiles, will be on rotation inside the Yuma Tent at The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival 2014. Along with www.SharkSavers.org, McHugh hopes to engage audiences in a deeper understanding of these important apex predators and their dwindling numbers in large part due to the unimaginable practice of finning them live for shark fin soup. National Geographic puts the estimate killed at 100 million per year. For more info, read here.
Twitter.com/kkmchughnyc
