“Life is
such an exciting adventure..."said James Langston
“Life
is such an exciting adventure. A few months ago, I was trying to mentally
prepare for retirement and WHAM! An invitation came to show my art in
Florence, Italy.
I had never
heard of the event so I had some friends in Italy look into the event and on
their advice, I entered. What a great show, 520 artists from 32 different
countries were there. To make matters better, one of my works was shown in
Millionaire magazine to help promote the event. All is well with the universe
so I am just happy to be with such a talented and experienced group of artist
and I find out I won a forth degree gold medal in the works on paper
category. This came as a total surprise to me considering the quality of work
at this event. To continue with the adventure, after the show ended in Italy,
all the Americans from the show were invited to bring our works to New York.
The show at the Angel Orensanz Foundation will last until January the 11th and
who knows what will happen next. For someone who creates art that is far from
the norm, this truly makes up for all the time and energy of thirty years of
working on these pictures. The
monochromatic landscapes are designs that attempt to capture the harmonious
balance of shape and pattern into an aesthetic illusion that challenges
viewers to explore the labyrinth of psychological space. The images and forms
are at once arrestingly aggressive and serenely seductive. The emotional
energy is trapped within the geometric and organic shapes on the
two-dimensional surface; however, the individual forms and designs serve as
linear progressions to the whole. Each shape, every plane captures the
fragments of light, the internal energy within the artist and the medium of
pen and ink serves to contrast that emotional, intellectual, and visceral
energy. The medium is basic as the surface is spatially limiting but beyond is
the invitation to explore for within each viewed lies the potential of each
drawing. The individual viewer may take possession which, in turn, results in
profoundly personal responses to the landscapes or the viewer can permit the
shapes, images and impressions to bombard the sensory perceptions for a
subliminal union with the artist.
Tête-à-Tête
With Langston
Interview by Valerie Constand
Photo: Artist Langston posing
in front of his exhibited artwork at the
the Biennale Internazionale Del l' Arte Contemporanea, Italy in 1999.
WACJ:
Frankly speaking, what ART means to you? Business? Investment? A message? A
vocation?
Langston: Art is a universal language, a type of language that some
people learn when they need another way to communicate their ideas besides
verbal. There are as many meanings for art as for love. As an artist, it is
not my duty to define what others are doing, that is the duty of the art
critic but I have noticed that when people are solely interested in making
money, their art suffers. I did not enter the art world to become rich nor is
it my concern how others spend their money. I only want to reach as deep
inside myself as possible to become what I can become in art.
WACJ: What is the particular message of your art?
Langston: My message in my work might not be any particular work but
all my works combined. Anyone interested in the Arts should be willing to work
hard, be true to their concepts, seldom listen to what others are saying about
your work and love what you do. I want people to have hope that the world will
survive, hurting others is unnecessary, children are the most valuable thing
you will ever come in contact with and continue learning your entire life.
WACJ: Do you think or
do you feel when you paint?
Langston: It is the one true freedom I have. The ability to create is
unlike any physical sense, almost a spiritual experience. Describing something
so personal is difficult at best. When an artwork begins it is a chore, brutal
at times facing that white paper. One artist described it as child birth
pains. Once a work has started, it is a journey that is difficult to end.