BIOGRAPHY
Roberta Young is an artist based in Brighton, working mainly in oil paint, ink and pigments. She studied Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art and then at Goldsmiths 1990-93. She has exhibited regularly with Cameron Fine Art in Hove and at the Affordable Art Fairs in London. Last summer she had her first solo show with Fox Yard Studios and also exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition. For the last three consecutive years Roberta curated works for a a group show at her Brighton Open House ‘Cats Creep’ as part of the Brighton May Festival.
Robertas’ paintings are inspired by her experiences and observations. Inspired by her daily walks and exploration of the South Downs she explores our connection with nature at large and what it reflects of our own nature. Her landscapes are focused on hawthorn trees, their dramatic shapes determined and warped by the costal winds. Like the hawthorn tree, in essence we go through life always the same being, but our perspectives and behaviour shaped by our relationships, our circumstances, and daily challenges.
Last year Roberta initiated a project "Magestic Beings" with an ecological interest in studying and bringing more acknowledgment to ancient trees that stand testament to time. Having been down to the Olive tree symbology of peace and hope, qualities which feel poignantly needed in the world at this time, her recent paintings were begun in Sicily last summer and finished in her studio.
The pastel tree works are a response to the powerful growth of beech and sycamore trees, the twists and turns the trunks and branches form as they reach for light within dark woodlands. Recently her work has been focused on the dynamic growth of summer plants and popular garden flowers with their dramatic shadows changing with the moving sun.
Her playful humour is most obvious in the dog paintings, as they depict the darker/wilder side of nature. The shadows allude to subtler interior realities. The soppy domesticated dog can’t escape his inherited instinct to hunt and kill.
Roberta’s figurative work reflects on how seemingly mundane moments in our lives can offer occasional fleeting revelations of who we are. She captivates moments of joy, of inner worlds of thought, of connection with others- whether animal or human.
Roberta’s work is vibrant with movement, her use of line is dynamic and fluid. She combines luminous washes and solid blocks of colour with expressive line drawing. Light is a strong feature in Roberta’s paintings, whereby the shadows resonate with a life and character of their own, or backlit figures loose their individualisation for the impression they leave against intense bright background.
EXHIBITIONS
2025 Landscape & Seascape, Cameron Contemporary, Brighton
2025 Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London
2025 Cats Creep Open House, Brighton
2025 Old Dogs New Tricks, Holt
2024 Winter Show, AKA, Cambridge
2024 Winter Show, Cameron Contemporary, Brighton
2024 Autumn Show, Frickleton Fine Art, Kings Hill
2024 Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
2024 Duality, Sussex Contemporary, Newhaven
2024 Summer Show, Cameron Contemporary, Brighton
2024 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London
2024, Solo Show, Fox Yard, Stowmarket
2024, Cats Creep Open House, Brighton
2024 Heart Centered, Fox Yard Studio, Stowmarket
2024 Visiting Artist, Brighton Girls’ School, Brighton
2023 Winter Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2023 Winter Show, White Chalk Gallery, Devizes, Wiltshire
2023 Brighton Hive Group, Artists Open Houses, Brighton
2023 Summer Show, White Chalk Gallery, Devizes, Wiltshire
2023 Land, Sea, Sky, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2023 Re-Imagining The Landscape, White Chalk Gallery, Devizes, Wiltshire, UK
2023 Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London
2023 Cats Creep, Artists Open Houses, Brighton
2022 Winter Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2022 Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
2022 Summer Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2022 Muse, Candid Gallery, London
2022 Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London
2022 Festival Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2022 Group Show, Candid Gallery, London
2021 Winter Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2021 Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
2021 Summer Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2021 Festival Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brighton
2021 Spring Show, Cameron Contemporary Gallery, Brghton
2018 Culford School, Bury St Edmunds
2018 Lewes Subud Hall, Lewes, E Sussex
2017 Ashdown Gallery, Ashdown, W Sussex
2017 Lewes Subud Hall, Lewes, E Sussex
1999 Love, Religion and Explosives, St Margaret’s Church, Norwich
1998 The Sublime, The Axiom, Cheltenham
1997 Norie Toch Studios, Gullane, Scotland
1997 Touring Show, Peacock Artspace Gallery, Aberdeen
1996 102nd Annual exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
1996 Vertical Axis, The Castle Climbing Centre, London
1995 Springpoint Art Auction
1994 Candid Gallery, London
EDUCATION
1990-1993: BA(Hons) Fine Art and Art History at Goldsmiths College, London University
1989-1990: Art Foundation at Camberwell College, London