Wes Lang

EVERYTHING

WES LANG TEXT BY ARTY NELSON

A definitive and long overdue monograph revealing the extraordinarily prolific career of the American artist Wes Lang, whose iconographic work brings together elements as diverse as tattoo art, biker culture, and Native American art.

Wes Lang is an artist whose work bridges the worlds of cutting-edge street culture and nostalgic Americana, invoking references as varied as Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Hell’s Angels, Francis Bacon and the Grateful Dead.

Oversize and with pullout gatefold pages, the book is a testament to the scope and richness of Lang’s work, expansive in its iconography and deceptively intimate in its detail. From drawings made on hotel stationery during his residency at Chateau Marmont a decade ago to richly layered oil paintings exhibited in Paris this year, Lang’s work juxtaposes a textured, painterly style with a playful acceptance of the diversity of his own influences.

Edited by the artist himself and with an exploratory essay by the critic Arty Nelson, the book draws on more than 25 years of work, from stark paintings on wood that formed the artist’s first exhibition to sculptures in bronze, new works in oil published here for the first time, and images made iconic by his enigmatic commercial collaborations.

Wes Lang is an American artist living and working in Los Angeles. Arty Nelson is a novelist and essayist who has published writing on contemporary artists from Chris Johanson to Ed Templeton.

ART

256 pages, including gatefolds, 95 x 125” 220 color illustrations HC w/jacket: 978-0-8478-7080-6 $85.00 Can: $115.00 UK: £60.00 September 28, 2021 Rights: World RIZZOLI