David J Emerson Young is a painter and sculptor from Bloomington, IN. A graduate of Indiana University, Young had a long and storied career in advertising and design, including the founding of Young & Laramore Advertising where his creative work earned national and international acclaim. A lifelong fine artist—one who scribbled sketches in the margins grade-school math books—46 of his public sculptures adorn the Indiana State Museum, as well as other locations in his home city of Indianapolis and in Michigan.

The Global Warming Series was first exhibited at the American University of
Sulaymaniyah in Iraq where high-quality giclee prints are now on permanent exhibit. In 2021 Young had a solo exhibition of his Global Warming Series paintings at the FAR Center for Contemporary Arts, Bloomington, Indiana, and in 2022 at Studio Kronor in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 2019 he has been represented by Juniper Art Gallery in Spencer, Indiana

In the paintings of David Young, one must grapple with the contrast of beauty inherent in the artwork itself and the horror of the environmental degradation they portray. The scale of the work further demands a reconciliation of this conflict.

“All of the paintings in The Global Warming Series are based on scientific accuracy and were vetted by scientists. The series addresses three topics: the causes, the effects on nature, and the after effects on humans. Each work explores what I call ‘the complexity of emotional opposition’—simultaneously bringing forth the beauty of nature and the devastation that is occurring.”