Chase Langford

Umbria 17

2024

Chase Langford has invented a distinctive visual language that is grounded in the natural and built environment while embarking into uncharted territory. His impactful depictions recall maps and aerial photography of sea coasts, mountains, farmland and cities through a calculated execution and highly refined draftsmanship.

Just as the West Coast Abstract Expressionists (1940–70) found California’s striking landscape fertile ground, so does Langford as he draws upon his geographic environs both near and far. Through his cartographic mastery, Langford contorts and synthesizes geographic elements, bringing forth paintings that are mysteriously familiar yet surprisingly unconventional. They challenge conventions of geography and landscapes, offering invigorating visions of space and place that transcend any specific locale, leading us to an exhilarating emotional experience.

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Langford is a Los Angeles-based artist well known for his geographically inspired paintings. He studied cartography earning a BA from UC Santa Barbara in geography then worked as a cartographer at UCLA. Starting with his “Map Paintings,” Langford literally reinterpreted geography by taking selected features from maps and filled in the reconfigured shapes in a flurry of color and movement creating a fresh take on familiar geographic forms. This was followed with a series that moved even deeper into pure abstraction with his “Coldwater,” “Mulholland,” and “Scrape” series, which all lead to his “Morphic” series, now the core focus of his painting today.

Langford’s paintings have been widely shown at one-person and group exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., Montreal, Palo Alto, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Napa Valley, Seattle, and Palm Springs, and are included many corporate/public collections (often site-specific commissions) such as Long Beach Museum of Art, Keck School of Medicine at USC, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Star City in Sydney, Australia, and more. Langford’s work is held in private collections in North America, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia. It is also in the private collections of Magic Johnson and the Saudi royal family.

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