Russell Young (born March 13, 1959) is a British-American artist. Young studied photography, film and graphic design at the Chester Art College and later attended Exeter Art College. He moved to London and gained recognition photographing the early live club shows in the late 1970s of Bauhaus, R.E.M. and the Smiths. During this period, he shot portraits of Morrissey, Björk, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, New Order, Diana Ross, Paul Newman. In 1986, he shot the ‘Faith’ sleeve for George Michael. In the following ten years he directed more than 100 music videos during the heyday of MTV.
In September 2000, while living in New York City, he began to concentrate on art and to devote himself to painting.
Young is best known for his enamel, screen-print paintings on linen, which explore celebrity, rock and roll, death and history. His earliest notable works as an artist are his “Pig Portraits”, life-size Police mug shots of celebrities screened onto canvas. First shown in 2003 they proved a critical success and were exhibited in London and the United States. He followed this with his Fame + Shame series that explored American life as seen through the eyes of a young man growing up in England. Russell Young is interested in the places where the glamour of the American dream meets the darkness of crime, addiction, and death. He explores this in series such as “Dirty Pretty Things” (2010), in which screen printed images of notoriously tragic stars Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain are sprinkled with diamond flakes.
Young emulates Andy Warhol’s printing style, applying saturated color over screen printed images in which subjects appear blown up and grainy, as though printed on newsprint.
His work has been shown nationally and internationally including at Scope/Basel, Switzerland SCOPE Art Show and Art Miami, Florida.
Russell Young is a hugely successful artist his clients including The Getty’s, President Barack Obama, David Hockney, Elizabeth Taylor, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and Abby Rosen.
SOLO GALLERY SHOWS
2023 Rich, Wild Forniters, ZK Gallery, San Francisco
2020 Fame, Halcyon Gallery, London
2020 ICONS, Halcyon Gallery at Harrod’s, London
2020 Heroes and Heroines, Galerie Kronsbien, Munich
2019 Heroes and Heroines, Taglialatella Galleries, Toronto
2019 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Art Angels, Los Angeles
2018 Grenades, Art Angels, Los Angeles
2018 Diamond Dust, Art Angels, Los Angeles
2018 Lotusland, Ganna Walska Lotusland, Montecito
2018 Diamond Dust, Taglialatella Gallery, Paris
2018 Russell Young Pop Art, 212 Gallery, Aspen
2018 Diamond Dust, Art Angels, Los Angeles
2018 New York Grenades, Taglialatella Gallery, New York
2017 Neo Pop, Vertes Modern, Zurich
2017 Diamond Dust, Art Miami, ZK Gallery, San Francisco
2017 20th Century Icons, ZK Gallery, San Francisco
2017 Femme Fatale, Art Angels, Los Angeles
2017 Femme Fatale, Taglialatella Gallery, New York
2016 American Landscapes, Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert
2016 SUPERSTAR, Halcyon Gallery, London
2015 Wanted Dead or Alive, 212 Gallery, Aspen
2015 Jackie O, Taglialatella Gallery, New York
2015 Rock-n-Roll Works on Paper, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis
2015 YOUNG, Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann, Düsseldorf
2015 YOUNG, Galerie Hafenrichter, Nürnberg
2014 SUPERSTAR, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis
2014 Spring Show 2014, Mead Carney Fine Art, London
2014 Wild at Heart, Imitate Modern, London
2013 Dreamland, Bankrobber, London
2013 The Fight of the Paso Del Mar, Bankrobber, London
2013 Kate Moss, Collectors Contemporary, Singapore
2013 Suicide, Bankrobber, London
2013 Suicide, Galerie G. Hartinger Fine Arts, Vienna
2013 Suicide, Vertes Modern Art, Zurich
2012 Russell Young, Vertes Modern Art, Zurich
2012 Entertainment for Men, the Playboy Club, London
2012 Only Anarchists are Pretty, Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas
2012 A Working Class Hero is Something To Be, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis
2012 The Last Picture Show, Galerie G. Hartinger Fine Arts, Vienna
2012 The Last Picture Show, Long-Sharp Gallery, Indianapolis
2011 American Envy III, Long-Sharp/Curis Modern + Contemporary, Detroit
2011 American Envy I, Scream Gallery, London
2011 Diamond Dust, Galerie G. Hartinger Fine Arts, Vienna
2011 Icons, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal
2010 Russell Young, Taglialatella Gallery, Paris
2010 Icons & Iconoclasts, Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills
2010 Russell Young, Robinsons Art Gallery, Flanders
2010 Diamond Dust, Russeck Gallery, San Francisco
2010 Dirty Pretty Things, Collectors Contemporary, Singapore
2010 Dirty Pretty Things, Scream Gallery, London
2010 Dirty Pretty Things, Taglialatella Gallery, Palm Beach
2010 Selected Works, Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills
2010 Fame+Shame, Aberson Exhibits, Tulsa, OK
2010 Russell Young, Doyle Devere, London
2009 Dirty Pretty Things, Valentino, New York
2009 Dirty Pretty Things, Russeck Gallery, San Francisco
2009 Dirty Pretty Things, Nikolai Rukaj Gallery, Toronto
2009 The Last Picture Show, Sims Reed Gallery, London
2008 Russell Young, Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills,
2008 Rebel Rebel, Art of Elysium at Milk Gallery, New York
2008 Russell Young, Collectors Contemporary, Singapore
2008 Punk+Graffiti, Milk Gallery, New York
2007 Russell Young, Altermann Modern, San Francisco
2007 Horsepower, Milk Gallery, New York
2007 Works on Paper, Sims Reed Gallery, New York
2007 Storm, Vanina Holasek Gallery, New York
2007 Fame+Shame, Bankrobber, London
2007 Fame+Shame, Bankrobber, Los Angeles
2007 Fame+Shame, Galerie Adler, Paris
2006 White Rabbit, The Art of Elysium, Beverly Hills,
2006 Russell Young, Sims Reed Gallery, London
2005 Fame+Shame, Vanina Holasek Gallery, New York
2005 Fame+Shame, The Art of Elysium, Los Angeles
2003 Pig Portraits, SP Gallery, London
2003 Pig Portraits, The Art Of Elysium at Don O’Melveney Gallery, Los Angeles
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2019 Art Couture: The Intersection of Art and Fashion, Cornell Art Museum, Florida
2018 Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
2018 Superstar, Modern Art Museum, Shanghai
2015 Forever Young: A Retrospective, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida
2012 A Retrospective, Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, Texas
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ART FAIRS
2019 Art Miami, Miami
2019 SCOPE, Miami
2019 CONTEXT Art Miami, Miami
2019 Toronto Art Fair, Toronto
2019 Hampton’s Art Fair, New York
2019 Texas Contemporary, Houston
2018 Palm Beach Art Fair, Palm Beach
2018 Art Miami, Miami
2018 Reveal Art Fair, Saratoga
2017 Art Miami, Miami
2017 SCOPE, Miami
2016 Art Miami, Miami
2016 SCOPE, Miami
2015 SCOPE Miami, Florida
2015 Masterpiece, London
2015 Art Miami New York
2015 Spring Masters New York
2014 SCOPE Miami, Florida
2014 CONTEXT Art Miami, Florida
2014 Art Southampton, New York
2014 Masterpiece, London
2014 Art Monaco
2014 Art Wynwood, Miami, Florida
2013 Masterpiece, London
2013 Art Basel, Switzerland
2012 Art Basel Miami, Florida
2012 Art KYIV Contemporary, Kiev, Ukraine
2012 The San Francisco Fine Art Fair, California
2011 SCOPE Miami, Florida
2011 Art Toronto, Canada
2011 Moniker Art Fair, London
2011 LA Art Show, Los Angeles, California
2011 Art Stage Singapore
2010 Art Basel Miami, Florida
2010 Art Chicago, Illinois
2009 Fountain Art Fair, Miami
2009 The London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Arts, London 2009 Cologne Art Fair, Germany
2008 SCOPE Miami, Florida
2007 Art Basel Miami, Florida
2007 SCOPE Basel, Switzerland 2006 Art Basel Miami, Florida
COLLECTIONS
Albertina Museum, Vienna
Carlo Ancelotti, Madrid
Jennifer Aniston, Los Angeles
Kate Beckinsale, Los Angeles
The Benetton Foundation, Treviso, Italy
David Bowie, New York
The Core Club, New York
Cornell Art Museum, Florida
Beth DeWoody, New York
Drake, Hidden Hills, California
Kirsten Dunst, Los Angeles
The Getty Collection, Los Angeles
Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas
Laurence Graff, New York
David Hockney, Los Angeles
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul
Marc Jacobs, New York
Kris Jenner, Los Angeles
Angelina Jolie, Los Angeles
Khloe Kardashian, Los Angeles
Floyd Mayweather, Las Vegas
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Mohammed VI of Morocco, Rabat
The Estate of Marilyn Monroe, New York
Kate Moss, London
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
Elon Musk, Los Angeles
Mark Zuckerberg, Palo Alto
Sharon Osbourne, Los Angeles
John Paulson, New York
Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, Athens
Joaquin Phoenix, Los Angeles
Brad Pitt, Los Angeles
The Polk Museum of Art, Florida
The Qatari Royal Family, Doha
Lou Reed, New York
Aby Rosen, New York
The Saatchi Collection, London
Paul Smith, London
Daisy Soros, New York
Elizabeth Taylor, Los Angeles
Kanye West, Los Angeles
White House Collection, Washington, DC
AWARDS
2016 The Spirit of Elysium, Los Angeles, California