Kenneth Victor Young (1933–2017), was an American artist, educator, and designer. He is associated with the

Washington Color School The Washington Color School, also known as the Washington, D.C., Color School, was an art movement starting during the 1950s–1970s in Washington, D.C., in the United States, built of abstract expressionist artists. The movement emerged during ...

art movement. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution as an

exhibit designer An exhibition designer is a professional who creates fixtures and display stands for events such as large public exhibitions, conferences, trade shows and temporary displays for businesses, museums, libraries and art galleries. Duties An exhi ...

for 35 years.

Early life and education

Kenneth Victor Young was born on December 12, 1933, in Louisville, Kentucky, into an African American family. He attended the University of Louisville to study design and physics, followed by additional study at Indiana University and University of Hawai'i. While attending University of Louisville, he met fellow student Sam Gilliam, as well as G. Caliman Coxe, and Bob Thompson. In the 1950s, Young served in the United States Navy.

Career

Young briefly worked at

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

chemical in Louisville, and in moved in 1964 to Washington, D.C., for a new job role as an exhibit designer at the Smithsonian Institution. He was the first Black exhibit designer at Smithsonian Institution. He worked in the evenings as a designer for the United States Information Agency. He was able to travel during this time of his career; visiting Egypt, Italy, and various locations in Africa. While working at the Smithsonian Institution, he was on a project alongside

Jacob Kainen Jacob Kainen (December 7, 1909 – March 19, 2001) was an American painter and printmaker. He is also known as an art historian, writing books on John Baptist Jackson (US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1962) and the etchings of Can ...

and they became friends. Eventually, he met many of the other Washington Color School painters, possibly through Kainen or in informal associations. There are conflicting dates for when Young started his painting career. By 1960, he was dedicated to painting. His first museum solo exhibit was, ''Ken Young: Recent Paintings'' (1974) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Young's paintings were abstract and often featured multiple colored wash strokes. His paintings were large scale in acrylic paint, very bright and colorful. Some of the titles of his paintings are referenced to jazz music. He taught art at Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, and at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

Death and legacy

Young died on March 12, 2017, in Washington, D.C. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Collections

Young's work is included in public museum collections, including the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

, Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

. Young's work was once part of the historic Johnson Publishing Company art collection, the parent company of ''Ebony'' and ''Jet'' magazines. The Johnson Publishing Company art collection had consisted of 75 African American artists artwork that had once hung in the offices, but due to bankruptcy the artworks went to auction in January 2020.

References

External links

Exhibition of Works by Kenneth Victor Young (1992)
A Finding Aid to the Parish Gallery records, 1940–2013, bulk 1991–2013, in the Archives of American Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Kenneth Victor 1933 births 2017 deaths American abstract artists African-American painters University of Louisville alumni United States Navy officers Corcoran School of the Arts and Design faculty African-American designers Exhibition designers