Stephen Young (1946 - 2025): ARCADIA, INTERRUPTED

This exhibition celebrates the remarkable career of Stephen Young, one of Wales's most distinctive painters.

Stephen was born in Godalming, Surrey and studied at Guildford School of Art and later Chelsea School of Art. He graduated with first class honours in painting and after a year of postgraduate study and a period as artist-in-residence at Sussex University, he moved to Cardiff, which became his home and the centre of his professional life. He worked at Cardiff College of Art, eventually becoming Director of the BA in Fine Art course at University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. He remained a committed painter throughout, his work ranging from the abstracts in his early years to his later unique theatrical narrative style - richly layered compositions in which figures and landscapes combine to create works of striking emotional and visual complexity.

Stephen exhibited widely in public and private galleries in the UK, among them John Moores in Liverpool, and The Hayward Gallery and The Serpentine Gallery in London. He also exhibited in Spain, where he developed lasting connections. His work has been placed in numerous public collections including the Arts Council of Wales, South Wales Arts, South Glamorgan County Council and in private collections worldwide. He was also a National Eisteddfod prize winner, a distinction that reflected the quality of his paintings.

There will be over 35 works on display, a mixture of oils and mixed media works dating between 1989 and 2017. There are two wonderfully written essays by Mike Crowther and Paul Greenhalgh, both of whom he worked with in Cardiff.

Text by Mike Crowther

Text by Paul Greenhalgh

Catalogue