PARADE
Bradd Young Solo ExhibitionSep 5 6:00pm — Oct 4, 2025 2:00pm
Opening Reception: Friday, September 5, 6-9pm
Bradd Young’s work draws from the vibrant cartoons of his childhood, channeling their playful absurdity through expressive characters, bold color, and shifting techniques such as airbrush and impressionism. His practice moves fluidly between digital drawings, polymer clay sculptures, and acrylic painting, each medium informing the next. Characters often begin as amorphous clay blobs, shaped by instinct, then evolve into painted motifs and back again, creating an ecosystem of imagery that resists traditional settings in favor of free associative arrangements of form and color.
Guided by the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, Young embraces imperfection and childlike development, allowing his figures to remain raw, chaotic, and unrefined, an echo of his truest self. Some characters carry symbolic roles: the bandleader, for instance, represents the constant march of time, leading a parade of figures onward in a resistance to the forces that seek to suppress childlike freedom. The work resists cynicism, celebrating the stranger, freakier side of individuality rather than conforming to mainstream expectations.
Recurring themes of nature and amusement park-like whimsy amplify this sense of escapism, offering dreamlike worlds reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons, playful toy-box realms, and contemporary animated adventures. Young’s art insists on a colorful, bombastic energy, an invitation into a chaotic yet liberating space where imperfection is beauty, play is power, and freedom of expression reigns.
Opening Reception: Friday, September 5, 6-9pm
Bradd Young’s work draws from the vibrant cartoons of his childhood, channeling their playful absurdity through expressive characters, bold color, and shifting techniques such as airbrush and impressionism. His practice moves fluidly between digital drawings, polymer clay sculptures, and acrylic painting, each medium informing the next. Characters often begin as amorphous clay blobs, shaped by instinct, then evolve into painted motifs and back again, creating an ecosystem of imagery that resists traditional settings in favor of free associative arrangements of form and color.
Guided by the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, Young embraces imperfection and childlike development, allowing his figures to remain raw, chaotic, and unrefined, an echo of his truest self. Some characters carry symbolic roles: the bandleader, for instance, represents the constant march of time, leading a parade of figures onward in a resistance to the forces that seek to suppress childlike freedom. The work resists cynicism, celebrating the stranger, freakier side of individuality rather than conforming to mainstream expectations.
Recurring themes of nature and amusement park-like whimsy amplify this sense of escapism, offering dreamlike worlds reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons, playful toy-box realms, and contemporary animated adventures. Young’s art insists on a colorful, bombastic energy, an invitation into a chaotic yet liberating space where imperfection is beauty, play is power, and freedom of expression reigns.
