Second Street Gallery is pleased to present Doug Young: The Slow Death of Rocks.

Doug Young’s works explore tensions between the natural and manmade world in a manner that is dystopian yet hopeful. Employing the technique of reverse painting on glass, Young creates a visual experience that uses illusion and wonder as an antithesis to oppressive systems that devalue individual labor and personal expression.

Along with reverse painting on glass, the exhibition at Second Street Gallery will feature Young’s current body of work utilizing moths and crystals.  These man made “geodes” elicit feelings of curiosity and wonder and relates to how the history of collecting and display involves exploitation and that our passive observation is not without harm. These sculptures will continue to take on meaning in the future when the outcome of our collective actions will be the extinction of many insects and all we are left with is the fading shimmer of useless rocks. The rocks and moths are constructed from paper and the crystals are grown in the studio.

Doug Young currently lives and works in Brooklyn. His recent exhibitions include solo shows at the Lodge Gallery and an installation at the Van Doren Waxter. Young holds his BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from Pratt. He was awarded the Guinness World Record for the longest nonstop banjo performance—24 hours.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

DeWitt Stern Group