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Lot Essay
"John Young is known for his overlaid painted images of existing photographic reproductions, that he either happens to come across, or takes from a well stocked archive. Romantic style landscapes, nude photography, flora from gardening books, still life pictures and images of movie stills, count among the repeated sources to date.
When confronted with one of his multilayered works, there is a desire to look for some form of unified purpose behind each juxtaposed image. For what appears familiar, is on closer scrutiny ambivalent, evading the unified meaning we may wish to allocate to the work. Whether intentional or not, Young's work often leaves the viewer with a sense of discontent, even irritation since we are unable to get close to the artist's intention. His use of such imagery aims to show how both photography and painting have the potential to misinform, to trick the viewer into thinking that what they are observing comes out of their own experiences. In fact, what functions as the real, is a constructed reality" (P Kember, Rethinking, Refunctioning, John Young - Awful Backlash, cat. Sydney, 2000)
When confronted with one of his multilayered works, there is a desire to look for some form of unified purpose behind each juxtaposed image. For what appears familiar, is on closer scrutiny ambivalent, evading the unified meaning we may wish to allocate to the work. Whether intentional or not, Young's work often leaves the viewer with a sense of discontent, even irritation since we are unable to get close to the artist's intention. His use of such imagery aims to show how both photography and painting have the potential to misinform, to trick the viewer into thinking that what they are observing comes out of their own experiences. In fact, what functions as the real, is a constructed reality" (P Kember, Rethinking, Refunctioning, John Young - Awful Backlash, cat. Sydney, 2000)