The internationally renowned British artist
Russell Young is currently presenting a special exhibition of work at the
Bertrand Delacroix Gallery in Chelsea titled Fame/Shame to honor the man
for whom the gallery is named. For this show, Young presents a collection of
his famous enamel screen-print paintings. His subjects are various media
personalities, which he portrays in both positive and negative fashions to
illustrate the trials, and tribulations that lurk behind the seemingly
glamorous life of celebrities.
The subject that stands out the most is
Marilyn Monroe whom Young portrays with a pink, silkscreen image featuring the
iconic film star delivering that hearty, charismatic laugh of hers in Marilyn
Monroe Laughing portraying her as the goddess that the public loves and
celebrates. However with Marilyn Monroe Up Close, the viewer sees her
inner sorrow caused by the pressures of trying to maintain her well-known
persona that would lead to her death at age 36. Another image that stands out
is one featuring supermodel Kate Moss standing in a bathroom wearing only her
underwear and platform heels with long, black leggings as she holds a teddy
bear close to her chest as though she’s trying to hold on to her innocence.
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Marilyn Monroe Laughing (2009) by Russell Young
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The grittiest images in the show delve show
the viewer the destructive paths that many individuals choose where they feel
they have nowhere else to turn, and include mug shots of a young Frank Sinatra,
Elvis Presley, and notorious criminal Charles Milles Manson each containing
blue, yellow, or red paint over them. Young finds these photographs from
newspaper cuttings, auctions, and even police departments, which he then covers
with silkscreen and sometimes sprinkling them with diamond dust, and then
signing his work with his own blood.
Young was born in York, England and studied at
Chester Art College and Exeter Art
College and gained recognition photographing celebrities such as Bruce
Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, and Paul Newman among many others. He also
directed several music videos for MTV in the 1990s before turning to art and
painting in 2000 while living in New York. He was a close friend and
collaborator of Bertrand Delacroix, a creative and adventurous entrepreneur who
passed away in June and for whom the gallery is named.
At the Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, 535 W. 25th St.,
through Sept. 29. The gallery is open Tue.—Sat. from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
