Museum Exhibition Catalogues, Monographs, Artist's Projects, Curatorial Writings and Essays
"Wes Lang is a man of appetites. He likes motorcycles, beer, tattoos, and women, though not in that order. Lang is an individualist who has heroes: Philip Guston, Walt Whitman, Waylon Jennings. He's fascinated with American history, and its champions and villains migrate through his work. Everything is in play for Lang, and he draws no distinction between the exalted and the depraved." David Coggins, excerpted from Wes Lang: The Man in Full in The Paradise Club.
Published by HENI Publishing. Introduction by Damien Hirst. Text by George Vasey.
For several decades, American artist Wes Lang (born 1972) has been honing his craft and mining the iconography of a post-pop Americana. This book is dedicated entirely to Lang’s prolific output in drawing, featuring 96 works crafted using acrylic, crayon and pencil. The dark, otherworldly characters from his paintings—skeletons and disembodied skulls—remain, but now inhabit blank white spaces, intricately inscribed with playful expressions and phrases that echo Taoist philosophy, reflecting the spiritual foundations of Lang’s practice. More than just companions to his immense paintings, the drawings stand as a significant body of work, continuing to demonstrate the breadth of Lang’s influences—ranging from fine art icons such as Francis Bacon, James Ensor and Francisco Goya to the kitsch imagery of his childhood. Lang effortlessly metabolizes these disparate inspirations, creating a distinctive style that expresses a deeply personal artistic voice.
Published by HENI Publishing. Text by Wallace Ludel. Interview by James Fox.
Published to accompany American artist Wes Lang’s first UK exhibition, The Black Paintings features stunning reproductions of 96 paintings and 96 drawings made between 2022 and 2024, along with striking visuals of Lang at work in his studio. The catalog vividly demonstrates the breadth of Lang’s inspiration, drawing from fine art heroes such as Francis Bacon, Francisco Goya and Alfred Munnings, as well as the kitsch imagery of his childhood. Lang (born 1972) masterfully blends these influences to create his distinctive and deeply personal style. Unique otherworldly characters—skeletons and disembodied skulls—are set against dark and obscured backgrounds or lush landscapes. The works on paper feature these same characters, but set against the blank white space of the page, embedded in intricately inscribed scenes with playful expressions and phrases that echo Taoist philosophy, reflecting the spiritual beliefs that drive Lang’s practice.
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.
Wes Lang: The Black Paintings
Wes Lang