Aaron Young is an American contemporary artist famous for his orchestrated dangerous stunts in exhibition spaces. Influenced by the provocative and groundbreaking performances of Chris Burden in the 1960s and the gestural action painting of Jackson Pollock, Young’s most acclaimed artistic creations are a result of energetic and ephemeral acts performed by culturally-stereotyped marginalized rebels, such as skateboarders and motorcycle riders. Recorded in video, drawing, sculpture, painting and photograph, those pieces transform destructive forces into regenerative energy. In two of his most celebrated works, Arc Light and Greeting Card 10a, Young draws inspiration from Rauschenberg’s Automobile Tire Print (1951) to produce a choreography of motorcycle traces in interaction with freshly stained plywood panels.
The artist’s work is held in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the JJC Oppenheimer Fund, and Jumex in Mexico City, among others.
