Wes Lang’s (born 1972) first monograph focuses on his works on paper--complicated arrangements of his typically American iconography, expertly rendered in ink and paint and juxtaposed in riotous combinations. These images, selected from a decade’s worth of material, range from the artist’s covers for a 2012 Grateful Dead box set chronicling their epic 1990 tour (fulfilling a teenage dream of Lang’s) to precise classical drawing reminiscent of a nineteenth-century illustrator, in a dizzying mix of American history, biker culture, tattoo iconography, ornament, Native American art, pin-ups, newspaper headlines and Taoist texts. This book--the only Wes Lang monograph in print--contains an essay by author James Frey and will undoubtedly appeal to both Lang’s substantial online following and to fans of Americana.
Featured image, "The Secret Space of Dreams" (2012), is reproduced from Wes Lang.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
GQ
Devin Friedman
We think of Lang as a black-denim-clad avatar mining the post-pop American landscape. He gathers iconography, stirs it all up, and brings it to a boil to tell his own cryptic stories. The result? Canvases that are layered, Basquiat-like, with vignettes: skulls wearing Native American headdresses, panhead Harley-Davidsons, buxom pimup models, cigarette-smoking Playboys Bunnies.
"A Place in the Hills" (2013) is reproduced from PictureBox's highly anticipated monograph on Wes Lang, releasing this week. Essayist Arty Nelson writes, "My first date in Wes Lang World was a no-brainer. I mean, pretty much every signifier from my fucked youth was represented sexy; it was a big cast-iron kettle bubbling over with every debauched morsel that I held near and dear. Lang, the denim-drenched seer of all things American, both timeless and fleeting, draws ravenously from an iconographic well that possesses the ability to tease the many and the few—Skulls, Boobs, Feathers, Tombstones, Tepees, Castles, Bikes, Cigarettes, Mansions, Country Stars, Ernest Hemingway, Shakespeare, the Chateau Marmont, Cy Twombly, Piet Mondrian, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Martin Kippenberger, Roses, Grim Reapers, Wings, Words, Birds, Pine Trees, Horses, More Boobs, Bunnies, Zig-Zag Men, Palm Trees, Top Hats, Flash, Snakes, Flags, Crosses, Famous Books, Stars, Guitars, Coffins, Cars, and the Tao Te Ching. To put a finer point on the matter, speaking in the patois of the Jappy Girls, What's not to love? Wes Lang conjures a world littered with tastier eye candy than I could ever hope to imagine. And he does with a one-two laser hand-and-eye combo that leaves you reeling." continue to blog
BOOKMARC celebrates the publication of WES LANG, published by PictureBox and Half Gallery (and with text by James Frey) Friday, November 8, from 6-8PM. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 11.75 x 9 in. / 144 pgs / 90 color / 20 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $34.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $45.95 GBP £29.99 ISBN: 9781939799111 PUBLISHER: PictureBox/Half Gallery AVAILABLE: 11/30/2013 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA EUR ASIA AU/NZ AFR ME
Published by PictureBox/Half Gallery. Text by James Frey, Arty Nelson.
Wes Lang’s (born 1972) first monograph focuses on his works on paper--complicated arrangements of his typically American iconography, expertly rendered in ink and paint and juxtaposed in riotous combinations. These images, selected from a decade’s worth of material, range from the artist’s covers for a 2012 Grateful Dead box set chronicling their epic 1990 tour (fulfilling a teenage dream of Lang’s) to precise classical drawing reminiscent of a nineteenth-century illustrator, in a dizzying mix of American history, biker culture, tattoo iconography, ornament, Native American art, pin-ups, newspaper headlines and Taoist texts. This book--the only Wes Lang monograph in print--contains an essay by author James Frey and will undoubtedly appeal to both Lang’s substantial online following and to fans of Americana.
