The Decline of Creative Power (Nos 1-6), 1983-84

gouache and synthetic polymer paint on canvas board

6 panels, 122 x 91 cm each, 122 x 549 cm overall

THE DECLINE OF CREATIVE POWER
1983 – 1984


"The Decline of Creative Power…is a veritable manifesto of postmodern art. The work consists of two layers, the top layer is composed of twelve grey images, and the lower layer consists of six monochrome panel pairs painted immaculately in rich watercolour. The top panels are drab and grey. The images were taken from photocopies and, according to Young, he painted them as if he were a machine, ‘each panel was done in one sitting or scan’, using white acrylic mixed with powdered pigment (Young saw this as similar to the carbon toner used in photocopiers)…Young wanted to suggest that there was a relationship between the decline of creative power and specific emotions; namely: irony, anxiety, melancholy, and despair, represented by the colours of the monochromes used in the work. A deconstructive irony or ambivalence is implicit in Young’s works where the decline of the traditional (elitist) notion of creativity is both mourned and celebrated."

Graham Coulter-Smith
1993