Before establishing himself as a contemporary fine artist, Young made his name behind the camera. His breakthrough came with the sleeve for George Michael’s Faith in 1987, followed by portraits of figures including Morrissey, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., The Smiths, Bauhaus, Diana Ross, Paul Newman, Björk and New Order. He later directed more than 100 music videos during the height of MTV, before turning fully towards fine art and developing the distinctive visual language for which he is now celebrated.
Defined by their distinctive surface and intensity, Young’s diamond-dusted silk screen paintings have become his signature. Often discussed in relation to Andy Warhol, a connection reinforced by his ownership of a printmaking press once used by Warhol himself, his work sits within a powerful artistic lineage while asserting a distinctly contemporary voice. While both artists explore the power of reproduction and the instability of image, Young is always interested in uncovering the fault lines beneath the polished facade.
Today, Russell Young is an artist of major international stature. His work has been exhibited at institutions including the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, the Multimedia Art Museum Moscow, the Cornell Art Museum, the Polk Museum of Art and the Goss-Michael Foundation. It has appeared everywhere from museum walls to the historic windows of Harrods and sold through Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips. His list of collectors includes Barack Obama, David Bowie, Brad Pitt, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Kate Moss, the Kardashians,, Brigitte Bardot, Drake, Angelina Jolie, David Hockney, Brad Pitt, Aby Rosen, and others, as well as The Getty Collection in Los Angeles and The White House Collection in Washington, D.C
