Untitled

The black orbs in Kenneth Young’s untitled abstraction are deceptive. They seem alternately microscopic, like organisms floating in a fluid field, or cosmic, like bits of matter captured in a split second. Opaque at the center, the spheres are fluid at their edges. The space, too, is ambiguous. Deep reds seem distant; electric blues propel dark forms forward from unfathomable depths. Energy and matter were apt subjects for Young, a young physicist who turned to painting: “I’ve always been interested in . . . outer space, inner space, and the development of what occurs—force, magnetism, and that kind of thing.”