Statement
At first glance the paintings of Russell DeYoung appear to be anachronistic: too earnest to join the ironic chorus addressing abstraction today, and seemingly too self-aware of their own ham-fisted virility. Upon closer inspection, however, they begin to reveal continuously shifting hierarchies. Anxiously gestural marks seem to describe singular events, shapes or forms, only to have them subordinated to the failing Gestalt of an indeterminate but willful nature. They are at once vulnerable and determinate, interdependent and rash. It's like watching Ralph Cramden taking ballet lessons-- a populist swipe at the rarified elitism of mid-century painting that reveals a secret longing to be part of that club. Through this uneasy pairing of the comic with the sublime, the paintings feel like the end of empire and a pile of dirty laundry at the same time. Maybe they're the same thing.
Profile
Russell DeYoung makes paintings that often straddle conventional notions of representation and abstraction. His work has been included in numerous regional and national exhibitions, most recently The 50th Annual Exhibition of American Art at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York. Mr. DeYoung has been painting professionally for over twenty years.
At first glance the paintings of Russell DeYoung appear to be anachronistic: too earnest to join the ironic chorus addressing abstraction today, and seemingly too self-aware of their own ham-fisted virility. Upon closer inspection, however, they begin to reveal continuously shifting hierarchies. Anxiously gestural marks seem to describe singular events, shapes or forms, only to have them subordinated to the failing Gestalt of an indeterminate but willful nature. They are at once vulnerable and determinate, interdependent and rash. It's like watching Ralph Cramden taking ballet lessons-- a populist swipe at the rarified elitism of mid-century painting that reveals a secret longing to be part of that club. Through this uneasy pairing of the comic with the sublime, the paintings feel like the end of empire and a pile of dirty laundry at the same time. Maybe they're the same thing.
Profile
Russell DeYoung makes paintings that often straddle conventional notions of representation and abstraction. His work has been included in numerous regional and national exhibitions, most recently The 50th Annual Exhibition of American Art at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, New York. Mr. DeYoung has been painting professionally for over twenty years.