Richard MacDonald's artwork at the Bellagio: You'll say 'O!'
Cirque du Soleil has had a long-term relationship with MGM Mirage, with each one of the corporation’s Las Vegas properties boasting a different Cirque show. But it wasn’t until last year when Bellagio introduced the sculptures of Richard MacDonald that the true art of the deal came to light.
Unveiled was something designed to make visitors say “O” before they ever enter the hotel’s showroom in which the Cirque production by that name appears. The “O” Theatre lobby has been transformed into a gallery that showcases more than 50 bronze sculptures, original drawings, serigraphs and lithographs by MacDonald.
All the artwork is for sale, with prices ranging from $8,000-$500,000 for his Masterwork Bronzes and $995-$3,500 for his Atelier Series Bronzes.
Working on an exclusive basis with Cirque, MacDonald’s work focuses on the spectrum of performing life, capturing a fleeting moment in time and immortalizing the grace, strength, joy and discipline of acrobats and dancers.
“I’m one of the few artists who is allowed to create within my own mind the inspirations that I see," he said. "I get inside the theater, inside the themes of the characters."
With that, the artwork "comes alive. I can actually feel the presence of the character, as I’m involved,” he said.
The artist recently unveiled five new sculptures at the gallery. He used a female trapeze artist, a male dancer, and a female contortionist from “O” as models, and rather than take photographs, he does all his work from memory.
Classically trained a as a painter but self-taught as a sculptor. MacDonald usually has two models at a time in his 25,000-square-foot studio in Monterrey, Calif., where all his artwork is created, from original clay sculpture to finished bronze sculpture. He does not work from photographs but rather from memory.
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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