New exhibition will honour ‘remarkable’ career of Stephen Young

A major new exhibition will celebrate the life and work of one of Wales’ most distinctive painters, bringing together more than three decades of emotionally rich and theatrical artworks.

Arcadia, Interrupted will show at Cardiff’s Celf Gallery from 6 June to 5 July 2026, and feature over 35 works from Stephen Young (1946 – 2025).

Born in Godalming, after studying at Guildford School of Art and Chelsea School of Art Young moved to Cardiff in 1969 and the city became “his home and the centre of his professional life”.

He worked at Cardiff College of Art, eventually becoming Director of the BA in Fine Art course at University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.

He remained a committed painter throughout, his work ranging from the abstracts in his early years to his later unique theatrical narrative style.

Much of his celebrated work comprises richly layered compositions in which figures and landscapes combine, creating striking emotional and visual complexity.

Stephen exhibited widely in public and private galleries in the UK, among them John Moores in Liverpool, and The Hayward Gallery and The Serpentine Gallery in London.

He also exhibited in Spain, where he developed lasting connections. His work has been placed in numerous public collections including the Arts Council of Wales, South Wales Arts, South Glamorgan County Council and in private collections worldwide.

He was also a National Eisteddfod prize winner, a distinction that reflected the quality of his paintings.

Sharing a tribute to his friend, Michael Crowther writes: “Steve somehow managed to make humour and bleakness exist, often side by side, within a complex formality.

“He managed all of this with a lightness of touch that was in no way flippant. In the studios we were amazed, gobsmacked, by these works. They had appeared so suddenly and had established such a change of direction.

“Poet, Marianne Moore, reflecting on her own craft, made the following observations; ‘We must have the courage of our peculiarities’; we need to be ‘as clear as our natural reticence allows us to be’; and that ‘novelty is always a by-product’.

“I am put immediately in mind of Stephen, of his love of art, and his dedication to the making of it.”

Paul Greenhalgh adds: “Technically, much of Steve’s work has the feeling of coloured drawings, in which the graphic dimension generates the structure and space. This puts one in mind of Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas. Like Steve, these two painted what they found around them; but unlike him, they didn’t use it to generate an empathetic mythology…

“In this last, grand period, the artist took the things that were all around him, a place of unfettered happiness, family, work, teaching, friends, and used it to invent other places, the Arcadia and Hades that he kept inside himself.

“In so doing, he gave us a profound illustration of the world, and some of the most beguiling, and for me significant representational paintings of our times.”

Celf is located at Roath Park Hall, Cardiff CF24 3NA. For more information about Arcadia, Interrupted and Stephen Young’s works, visit the gallery’s site here.