Russell Young is a British-American artist known for his silkscreen paintings featuring historical and pop culture images. His work also includes sculpture, installations and film.
Russell studied photography, film and graphic design at the University of Chester, and then attended the Exeter College of Art and Design in the UK.
Russell's big career break came in 1986 when he photographed George Michael for the Faith album cover. In addition he has also photographed legends such as Morrissey, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, President Obama, David Bowie, the Smiths, REM, Diana Ross and Frankie Goes to Hollywood to name a few.
During the 90s, Russell gave up photography to pursue his love of painting. He relocated to New York and in 2001, began his ‘Pig Portraits’ series. He acquired the mugshots of musicians, actors and political figures, and enlarged them as bold, colourful, silkscreen portraits of Sid Vicious, Elvis Presley, Jane Fonda, Malcolm X, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra and Lee Harvey Oswald. "They were meant to be anti-celebrity portraits. To take a dig at my former career I guess. As a release. But they ended up – I think they look better than they do in some of the sessions.”
He has shown in galleries and museums in London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, Detroit, Miami and Los Angeles.
His silkscreen paintings have acquired a huge and illustrious fan base and can be found in the collections of Aby Rosen, The Qatari Royal Family, Kate Moss, David Bowie, Liz Taylor, Barack Obama, The Albertina Museum, The Saatchi Collection and Brad Pitt.
Want to learn more about Russell Young?
Russell Young: A Picture Paints A Thousand Words
Russell Young: Molotov Cocktail Boy
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