V1 GALLERY PROUDLY PRESENTS
WES LANG - LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
V1 Gallery is proud to present “Wes Lang – Life And How To Live It”. The exhibition includes two large-scale paintings, 7 large drawings and 3 bronze sculptures. The exhibition offers, as the title indicates, a personal reflection on how to navigate life. It is not a self-help or how to guide. It is an interlinked series of meditations on being. Being Wes Lang and being all of us. The subject matter is personal universal, complex and mundane; friends and mentors, dead, alive or both. Good times, bad times and the value of each. The hazards of living, enjoying life, cigarettes and drink, in the light of our impending death. Love for one, for many and briefly for all. The rage and acceptance of not going gentle into that good night.
The works reference a diverse and eclectic selection of artists and thinkers such as Walt Whitman, Ram Dass, Bob Dylan, Cy Twombly, The Grateful Dead, Glenn Gould, Chet Baker, Martin Kippenberger and Jean Michel Basquiat amongst others. In Wes Lang’s work, these references bleed into a song about appreciating life. Be here now. A path through uncertain times, a personal letter expressing confidence in self doubt, beauty, ugliness and human abilities. The letter ends with the words ”Eyes Of The World - Best Wishes” in the painting titled “Freedom Machine” featuring a large portrait of the grim reaper.
Wes Lang (b. 1972, USA) submerges himself in his subject matter, akin to the nature of Walt Whitman’s “Song Of Myself” (1855), he paints from a personal perspective, but for a common understanding. He re-contextualizes Americana from a very personal viewpoint, with references to Native Americans, biker culture, country and folk music, bumper sticker quotes, pinup girls and living and dead American artists. He reminds us of the greatness of life and encourages us to live it now, though it might be in the shadow of death.
His work is included the collections of MOMA, NY, USA, The National Gallery Of Denmark and Deste Foundation, Greece, amongst others. His work can currently be seen in the exhibition Con Amore, The Leif Djurhuus Collection, at The Museum Of Modern Art, Aarhus, Denmark. Earlier this year Wes Lang concluded a series of hotel stationary drawings, in the exhibition “Sitting On A Rainbow” at The Hotel Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, USA.
