Alan Young, Hey Hybrid, Hey Hey, 2024. Image: Rosie Hastie
Alan Young
Gallery 1
Friday 6 September - Sunday 29 September 2024
Opening Thursday 5 September 2024, 6pm - 8pm
This body of work focuses on different sports and from the point of view of participants, spectators, and umpires. Young has always been interested in sport both as a participant and spectator. Central to his art practice is exploring movement and building a visual language around it. Therefore, his two worlds collide nicely.
Three main themes underpin the ideas. Firstly, Young engages with the notion of inclusivity. This notion includes inclusivity as something present and reflected in a sense of belonging and the barriers to inclusivity. Sport can hold up an unforgiving mirror to broader concerns within society. Secondly, he explores ideas of performance, the occasion, and the drama. This focus involves the athletes and the spectators, umpires, and support teams. Typical dramas include the penalty shootout in high-stakes soccer finals. Excitement and celebration will feature in these paintings.
Lastly, Young identifies controversies, some recent and some historic. For example, the contested decisions which resulted in losses and victories and remained topics of conversation for a long time. Across all these themes, he brings his fascination with colour, energy, and delight in the subject matter to the canvas.
Alan Young. Image courtesy of Jesse Hunniford
About the Artist
Alan Young, Matildas hybrid, 2023. Image courtesy of Rosie Hastie
Alan Young is a painter based in Hobart, Tasmania. He came to Australia from Scotland as a child. Young trained in Fine Art at the University of Tasmania and graduated with a Master’s in Fine Art (Research) in 2005.
Young is interested in space and place and enjoys exploring ideas of movement and how to portray it. His enjoyment of music, dancing and sport coincides nicely with this interest. Everyday things fascinate him, and he responds to what he sees. This response often develops into stories and he uses visual language such as text to underscore meaning. His art practice is often about painting forms which mean more than one thing and sometimes he mergeshuman and non-human forms.
Young won the Bay of Arts Prize in 2012 and has been a finalist in prizes including the Glover, Geelong, Hobart and Paddington. He was a recipient of the MONA scholarship and has received both Arts Tasmania and Australian Council Grants. His work is in public collections such as Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and Devonport Gallery. Young’s work is also held in MONA and private collections nationally and internationally. He is represented by Colville Gallery in Hobart.
Alan Young is represented by Colville Gallery Tasmania
