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Foreword

Russell Young has the unique position to have seen Hollywood both from a distance and from within. As a boy growing up in the north of England, he lusted after the polished myth of Hollywood from afar. Later, as a successful celebrity photographer living and working in Los Angeles, he witnessed Hollywood’s many dark realities.

Young has now moved away from his career in photography to devote all of his time to working as a painter and printmaker.  Its seems somehow the inevitable conclusion that his experience as a photographer and talent as an artist should come together in these monumental works.

Much of Young’s work explores the American Dream and the Cult of Celebrity from an outsider’s perspective. He describes his work as ‘… a sort of Soundtrack to my life, loves, experiences and influences. These would be my heroes that are missing from Art History’.

In this exhibition, The Last Picture Show, we have assembled a group of recent works, all of which depict frozen cinematic moments. The subjects are universally recognisable to us all and have an immediate appeal - Liz Taylor’s stare, full of glamour and seduction, Steve McQueen’s enviable machismo, or Marilyn Monroe’s look of despair, an echo of her tragic end. But, beyond these glossy and glamorous Pin-ups, there are always lurking questions about the much darker side of celebrity.

Along with his haunting subjects, there is something in Young’s gritty and raw presentation that draws us in. The alluring sparkle of glitter and diamond dust or his lurid and forceful colours make the images almost lurch off the walls. This combined with their overwhelming scale make these pictures absolutely undeniable. The beauty of his work is impossible to ignore.