Joel Young’s art practice is about learning, healing, and making space. He has always had the desire to know all there is to know, and to do all there is to do. Maybe it is his inner Sagittarian star position manifest, or maybe he’s just extra! His installations feature highly textured ceramic sculptures, colorful video projection, gestural drawing, and modernist design elements. Material, language, geography and politics filter through his work in both the studio and the gallery. Young’s art is a selfish one, in that he creates to feel whole and satisfied. Even if wholeness is never achieved, the beauty he finds in creating is shared with all those who experience his work. All are invited to touch and do what they want with the work, in the hopes that some of the awe and beauty may rub off. Using materials to emphasize the void around the content, Young invites all to occupy the space they need in order to experience the world they deserve.
Joel Young is a visual artist who lives and works in Montréal / Tiohtià:ke where he graduated with his BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University (2023). He has played in pop musical groups such as Astral Gunk, Napster Vertigo, and Crushhh. He received the Emploi Québec Jeune Volontaires grant for a project entitled Vague Magazine, which explored urbanism and wearable art. His work has appeared in group shows at venues such as Eastern Bloc and Art Mûr.
