Image: Al Young, In The Music, 2016, acrylic and oilstick on canvas, 92x92cm
Al Young’s bright and bold paintings are all about dancing. His latest exhibition, Dance Like Everybody is Watching, opens at Moonah Arts Centre (MAC) on Thursday 1 December at 6pm.
Al Young dances while he paints, feeding his energy and movement into the artworks.
“Like drawing and painting, dance music and responding to it has been an important part of my life since my teenage years” says Young, and in this exhibition the two worlds collide in vibrant colour and bold lines.
Inspired by an article called “Dance While Everyone is Watching” by disability advocate Stella Young, this body of work responds to her notion that every individual has a right to enjoy dancing publicly.
In this article, Stella Young identifies unhelpful notions around disability and the assumptions and judgments that people can make about people who live with a disability.
Al Young explains; “I have a particular kind of energy as I have a rare movement disorder (myoclonus dystonia) which is similar to Parkinson’s disease”.
Young’s vibrant artworks refuse to go quietly unnoticed. They celebrate movement in an example of how people living with a disability should not be defined by their disability in an exhibition will bring a smile to your face, hope to your heart, and an irresistible tap to your feet.
Dance Like Everybody is Watching opens at MAC 6pm Thursday 1 December, all welcome.
The exhibition runs from 2 December – 17 December 2016, free entry.
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION:
Opening event 6pm, 1 December 2016
Moonah Arts Centre, 23-27 Albert Road, Moonah
Exhibition runs 2 December – 17 December 2016
Exhibition open from 10am-5pm Tuesday – Friday and 11am-3pm Saturdays
Entry to the exhibition is free
Moonah Arts Centre
