For over fifteen years, Billy Bert Young has been a vital presence in London’s lively art community, widely recognized for his intricate, monochromatic ink drawings filled with comic book creatures, dense patterns, and playful text. Now, in Cloudburst, a solo exhibition of new paintings created over the past four years, Young shifts gears to embrace vivid colour, sculptural form, and theatrical compositions.
This bold new body of work draws from a wide range of visual motifs, including nostalgic advertisements, movie posters, children’s book illustrations, and historical prints. The result is a series of layered, dreamlike paintings that reward closer looking. Blending high realism with pop culture and collage, Young’s compositions radiate a carnivalesque energy that feels familiar and fantastical.
Each piece is a visual puzzle, rich with symbolism and surreal titles that invite viewers to explore and imagine their own unique narratives. Behind the scenes, Young’s process is rooted in avid sketching and collecting, affording old magazines, artist publications, deaccessioned textbooks, and vintage ads new life through his work.
