Aaron Young

A "burnout," also known as a "peel out" or a "power brake," is the practice of spinning the wheel of a stationary bike to create heat and friction that in turn generates smoke. It is at once a powerful, aggressive yet theatrical act. California raised, New York based artist Aaron Young adopts this methodology to create his celebrated Burnout series. By pervading the surface level of paint, which has been painted atop aluminum panels, a dynamic residue of burnt rubber and variegated paint layers are realized.

Young often employs the services of individuals society has identified as relegated rebels such as motorcycle groups to assist in creating these works. In describing his pre-production approach:  “When I go and I meet the guys, I just shut my mouth and let them show me what they can do. It's just like using material, or drawing a line... You use their craft, and you formulate it into the idea that you have. It's just like using wood or metal or whatever” (Adam McEwen, “Aaron Young,” Interview Magazine, October 2008).

Operating under the auspices of chance and possibility inherent to the burnout approach, ARC LIGHT (Moscow, quadriptych) is a tour de force, a captivating choreography of looping, worn shades of red and black lines that entwine across the four panels to create a decidedly gestural and aesthetically gripping piece. While other Burnout pieces are comprised of one or two panels, the four panels in the present lot create a commandingly rhythmic, unified piece that highlight the dueling notions of masculinity and expressive process of creation that are recurring principles in the artist’s corpus. Such acts of rich mark making participate in a dialogue that can be traced to the Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline to more Contemporary artists such as Christopher Wool and Mark Bradford.