Aaron Young (b. 1972)

Aaron Young's colossal artworks are the enduring remnants of energetic and sometimes dangerous stunts where the artist uses techniques of burning and charring his surfaces through spontaneous movements. An emblematic example of his artistic experimentations is his renowned Burnout series. For this particular series the artist spun the wheel of a static bike to create intense heat and friction by ‘power braking’. Thus, Young created a network of lively ever-looping rings that rip through the surface level of paint, which he has painted on top of aluminium panels.  This dynamic amalgamation of burnt rubber and congealed paint layers imbues his composition with a sense of the impulsive whilst revealing a highly tactile surface full of cavities and crevices.
In Arc Light, Young harks back to Robert Rauschenberg's Automobile Tire Print (1951) but rather than merely ending with a single tire track he creates an intricate mesh of sinuously curving lines which was created by a team of motorbike riders. In this manner Young draws parallels between Rauschenberg’s creative practices and Jackson Pollock's seminal ‘action paintings’.