Beacon artist, known for portraits, changes direction
After three decades in the art world, Coulter Young is shifting gears and changing course.
But he’s also looking back. The Beacon resident will host a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday (June 22) at H-Art Gallery in Peekskill for his latest show, Coulter D. Young IV, 30 Year Retrospective Buffalo-Peekskill-Beacon.
A series of 75 reproductions displayed on a wall, including images of plein air paintings from the early years, reflects the trajectory of his life in art. The vast majority present impressionistic portraits of famous folks, mostly musicians.
Three new ones depict scenes from The Bone God, a graphic novel set in a fantastical Hudson Valley location. “I’m aiming to retire from the portraits,” says Young, the art teacher at the Garrison School.
The Bone God crystallized after Allyn Peterson, who heads a Beacon firm called Rylomi that specializes in “psychic landscapes,” sent an open call for illustrators. Young, the early bird, responded first.
Now, he’s dealing with guidelines and deadlines. “The whole thing, from the concept to the collaboration to having an end date is all new, but it’s fun,” he says.
The characters assigned to Young so far — the Water Knight, Fire King and Wood Queen — are rendered in a technique distinct from past portraits. “I’m looking for my own separate style,” he says. “I’m not a comic book or graphic novel person, but I’m studying them. The intention is to develop a whole new look.”
He also shifted mediums — from oil on canvas to acrylic on wood — and added touches of pen and ink.
About 20 years ago, with his portrait series, Young also altered his process by ditching pastel crayons on paper and switching to oil paint on wood or canvas. An element shared between his former and most recent styles include creating drip marks by flicking drops of turpentine from a brush onto the surface.
His 30-year milestone, along with the show’s namesake locations, dates from Young’s first serious pastel on cardboard featuring Rob Derhak, frontman for the jam-band moe.
The two met at SUNY Buffalo, where Young studied art. He also designed the cover for the band’s 1994 album, Headseed, which shows a figure in overalls sprouting a flower instead of a cranium.
For a decade, Young had a studio to Peekskill and lived in Wappingers Falls. After hearing that Dia planned to move into Beacon, he bought a house in 2003.
The Derhak portrait kickstarted a series of 125 profiles with vivid colors that pop as if backlit. In this phase, he piled on the paint and used clashing hues. Bob Marley’s face, for instance, is clayish-red on one side, soft yellow on the other and split by a blue blotch that stretches from his forehead down beyond the nose.
Similar to Monet’s churches and landscapes, many portraits, like the Marley, Marilyn, Jerry Garcia and Louis Armstrong, cohere when a viewer steps back.
After entering the world of graphic artists, Young says he was surprised to discover a robust underground arts movement in Beacon.
“I’ve lived here for 20 years but met so many artists, writers and musicians I’ve never seen before,” he says. “It’s shocking.”
H-Art Gallery, at 1 S. Division St., in Peekskill, is open from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Call 914-788-2038.
