RANI YOUNG
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ABOUT

BIO
Rani Young is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist working in oil painting, illustration, video, music, and motion graphics. She received a Post-Baccalaureate in Art & Technology Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Colorado State University. The recipient of an Individual Artist Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, her work has been exhibited at the North Dakota Museum of Art, Oak Park Art League, and ArtPrize, among others. An enthusiastic promoter of Chicago art and music, Rani co-founded the gallery and event space Transistor (read about its early days here) and later launched her spinoff solo venture, Resistor. She has taught art and design classes to over 1,000 students. As lead singer in three bands, including Girl Detective and Eve Black, Rani brought in elements of video, costuming, and object design. Her current music and video project is Dorian's Shadow, and she continues to work as a freelance graphic designer and motion graphics artist (see examples at here.)
ARTIST STATEMENT
I live and work in my art studio. The characters and scenes that exist in the internal movies in my mind hang around me as an evolving collection of oil paintings on the walls, like I am living within a book or a film. Born as a twin on Halloween, I have always been drawn to the idea of becoming a character as well as finding and expressing my own unique identity. I often utilize self-portraiture as a way of changing costume and working out that identity. I grew up painting, drawing, and singing to myself, and when I became an adult, I began working professionally as a graphic designer and a motion graphics/video artist. I combine these interests and modes of expression today. My graphic sensibilities, as well as an interest in motion, factor into my paintings. And, to an equal degree, my paintings have always felt like film stills to me. I hope that people who buy my art, watch my videos, or listen to my music will be able to take a moment to step into these stories with me.

view CV
CV


Education

2007          Post-Bacc., Art & Technology, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1997          Bachelor of Fine Arts, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO


Selected Solo Exhibitions

2015          The Quest Paintings, Transistor, Chicago, IL
2009          Figurative Works on Paper, Urban Mischief, Chicago, IL


Selected Group Exhibitions

2020          Art in Isolation, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND
                   NEXT Virtual Art Exhibition, Gallery Studio Oh!, Chicago, IL
                   Curiosity, J + K Isacson, Woodstock, IL
2019          Who’s Afraid of Red, Gallery Studio Oh!, Chicago, IL
2015          ArtPrize, Devos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI
                   Off the Grid, Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL
                   The Color of Passion, Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL
2014          Member Show, Fulton Street Collective, Chicago, IL
                   Heroes and Villains, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
2001          Music for the Eyes, Otherwise Gallery, Lansing, MI


Awards/Grants

2015          3Arts Projects Award
2014          Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, IAP Grant
1989          Merit Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago


Selected Lectures/Talks

2011          Artist Talk, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
2010          Entrepreneurship in the Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL


Teaching

2015-16    Drawing, Painting, Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, IL
2009-12    Figure Drawing, Drawing, Painting, Transistor, Chicago, IL

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