Russell Young

(British, b. 1959)

Biography

The artist began his creative career as a celebrity photographer and music video director some 20 years ago, photographing George Michael for the cover of one of his most famous albums ‘Faith’ and directing 100 videos in the golden age of MTV. It was a natural progression for Young, ten years later, to move towards painting where he found a real connection with the medium, “In painting, you are in direct contact with the surface. I love that.” .

These works explored the heady combination of celebrity and criminality, fame and shame, which has become central to Young’s oeuvre. Having worked with celebrities for most of his career Young’s original idea was to create a sort of ‘anti-celebrity’ portrait, but in making these large and colourful silkscreens he actually magnified their beauty and iconicity. “There is undeniably this attitude that is very real, in your face, a beauty that is hard to ignore. My art is a sort of soundtrack to my life, loves, experiences and influences. These would be my heroes that are missing from Art History,” the artist explains. At the heart of his work are modern notions of celebrity and idolisation, how the media and we, the public, raise people up only to knock them down, and the glamorisation of the hedonistic lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Twenty years after debut solo show in 2002 the momentum of Russell Young is as strong as ever, his works widely exhibited and regularly finding its way into new collections through major auction houses. It is an impressive résumé that includes several retrospectives, eight museum shows and more that seventy solo shows around the world. Young’s pop-art aesthetics and focus on the icons of Western celebrity has gathered a loyal following among people who themselves are in the public limelight. Young was born in Yorkshire and lives and works in New York and Los Angeles.