Russell Young, Marlon Brando, Death of a Disco Dancer, 2008
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$2,400.00
$2,400.00
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Screenprint - Edition 53/125 signed on the bottom corner by the artist. 39 X 30. Some photos are shown under blue cellophane on the glass..
Russell Young 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.” His painting work remained private until his 2003 LA exhibition Pig Portraits, a series of larger than life silkscreens of numerous idols’ police mug-shots which he had gathered from Police Departments across the United States.
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. In three of the silkscreen prints available on Eyestorm Russell has taken iconic images, taken by legendary rock photographer Mick Rock, of music stars and pioneering celebrity hedonists, David Bowie and Lou Reed, and transformed them into a large format and bold colours. Elsewhere he has re-imagined some of the most famous images of Hollywood’s original bad boy Marlon Brando and cast 21st Century celebrity delinquents Kate Moss and former lover Pete Doherty as the Moors Murderers in a searing commentary on contemporary fame and indulgence. Russell Young has risen rapidly to become a highly collected and sought after contemporary pop artist; he has exhibited internationally from Miami and LA to Europe and Singapore and his work forms part of numerous celebrity collectors including Liz Taylor and Brad Pitt. His work has been described as “hauntingly beautiful and undeniable.” Russell was born in Yorkshire and currently lives and works in New York and California.
Russell Young 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.” His painting work remained private until his 2003 LA exhibition Pig Portraits, a series of larger than life silkscreens of numerous idols’ police mug-shots which he had gathered from Police Departments across the United States.
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. In three of the silkscreen prints available on Eyestorm Russell has taken iconic images, taken by legendary rock photographer Mick Rock, of music stars and pioneering celebrity hedonists, David Bowie and Lou Reed, and transformed them into a large format and bold colours. Elsewhere he has re-imagined some of the most famous images of Hollywood’s original bad boy Marlon Brando and cast 21st Century celebrity delinquents Kate Moss and former lover Pete Doherty as the Moors Murderers in a searing commentary on contemporary fame and indulgence. Russell Young has risen rapidly to become a highly collected and sought after contemporary pop artist; he has exhibited internationally from Miami and LA to Europe and Singapore and his work forms part of numerous celebrity collectors including Liz Taylor and Brad Pitt. His work has been described as “hauntingly beautiful and undeniable.” Russell was born in Yorkshire and currently lives and works in New York and California.