H Spencer Young (b. Cleveland, Ohio) is a New York–based interdisciplinary artist and writer/director working across photography, filmmaking, digital art, painting, sculpture, sound, and drawing. His self-driven research practice explores a wide range of formal and post-conceptual challenges, often investigating how images shape perception and emotion.
Spencer holds a B.A. in Visual Media with a minor in Cinema Studies from The American University in Washington, D.C. As an undergraduate, he was sponsored by Czech author and screenwriter Arnošt Lustig to attend FAMU, the Czech National Film School in Prague. He was also one of 13 students selected nationally by historian Dr. Douglas Brinkley for The Majic Bus, a groundbreaking experiential learning program that traveled to 46 states, studying Geography of the American Civil Rights Struggle, American Intellectual History, American Road Literature and American Social history in the precise locations where history occurred.
Spencer’s film and art works have exhibited internationally, including multiple showings at Art Basel | Miami Beach and institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). In 2025, he exhibited in Social Photography XI at Carriage Trade Gallery, curated by Peter Scott. In 2024, his work Solastalgia exhibited in Steal My Sunshine, curated by Marlee Katz Snow / Collect Bean.
In 2023, Spencer’s essay on Marcel Duchamp’s 1963 retrospective at the Norton Simon Museum was published by Pasadena Magazine (Editor: Malina Saval). That same year, his work was featured on the front page of the New York Times Arts Section as part of The Patriot group show at O’Flaherty’s, curated by Jamian Juliano-Villani and Billy Grant.
Spencer’s artwork has been auctioned to benefit the Center for Art Law (Capsule Auctions, Paddle8) and featured in the publication Simultaneous Soloists (Pioneer Press) on the work of Anthony McCall.
As a filmmaker, Spencer directed the official music video for Joan as Police Woman’s Warning Bell (featured in The Atlantic), and edited/sound designed Rashid Johnson’s Samuel in Space for Ballroom Marfa, now part of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ permanent collection and exhibited internationally at The Guggenheim (as part of Johnson’s retrospective A Poem For Deep Thinkers), Hauser & Wirth, the McNay Art Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.
Spencer’s commercial work includes directing films and creative campaigns for clients such as Hudson’s Bay Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nike, CBS, Juice Press, Food Network, Lord & Taylor, and Honor, with features in W Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and others. In 2013, he co-concepted the foundational branding for Juice Press, creating the visual and film language that grew the brand from a single store to a national presence.
His early documentary feature Swing State captured the 2006 Ohio governor’s race and holds the one-day attendance record at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Spencer also served as a story consultant and editor on Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis (dir. Mary Jordan, prod. Richard Prince), named one of Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 Films of 2006.
Spencer’s fashion film for Honor, featuring models Xiao Wen Ju, Josephine Skriver, and Anne-Sophie Monrad, premiered on W Magazine’s platform with a soundtrack by Here We Go Magic. His work has also inspired multiple couture collections at New York Fashion Week and the Emmys Red Carpet (notably, Zosia Mamet’s 2013 gown based on Spencer’s piece The New Sky.
Spencer’s artwork continues to raise funds for not-for-profit galleries, emerging artist grants, and organizations supporting the arts.
Artists he has exhibited alongside include Tracy Emin, Lauren Yeager, Dash Snow, Sean Lennon, Gwenn Thomas, Azikiwe Mohammed, Spencer Sweeney, Fred Gutzeit, R.H. Quaytman, Ricky Powell, Carmen Winant, Hildur Jonsson, Jennifer McDermott, Bert Stern, Dan Loxton, and many others.
In addition to his professional practice, Spencer is a children’s educator in art and film, and mentors undergraduate and graduate filmmakers at his alma mater.
About The Majic Bus:
During The Majic Bus journey, Spencer studied firsthand with cultural icons including Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, Toni Morrison, Arthur Miller, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Townes Van Zandt, Melba Patillo Beals, Allen Ginsberg, and others — often visiting them at their homes. Standout memories include restoring Bill Clinton’s boyhood home in Hope, Arkansas; walking Lowell, MA one-on-one with Ginsberg; discussing Hell’s Angels with Hunter S. Thompson at Owl Farm; and learning music at the Maple Leaf with Townes Van Zandt. The program's focus was to study American cultural history where it happened, and this experience remains foundational to his work.