S A Mulholland

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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Painting is an art form that has spanned innumerable cultures, with artists using the medium to tell stories, explore and communicate ideas and express themselves. To bring abstract, landscape and still-life paintings into your home is to celebrate and share in the long tradition of this discipline.

When we look at paintings, particularly those that originated in the past, we learn about history, other cultures and countries of the world. Like every other work of art, paintings — whether they are contemporary creations or works that were made during the 19th century — can often help us clearly see and understand the world around us in a meaningful and interesting way.

Cave walls were the canvases for what were arguably the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict natural scenery through art. Portrait paintings and drawings, which, along with sculpture, were how someone’s appearance was recorded prior to the advent of photography, are at least as old as Ancient Egypt. In the Netherlands, landscapes were a major theme for painters as early as the 1500s. Later, artists in Greece, Rome and elsewhere created vast wall paintings to decorate stately homes, churches and tombs. Today, creating a wall of art is a wonderful way to enhance your space, showcase beautiful pieces and tie an interior design together.

No matter your preference, whether you favor Post-Impressionist paintings, animal paintings, Surrealism, Pop art or another movement or specific period, arranging art on a blank wall allows you to evoke emotions in a room while also showing off your tastes and interests. A symmetrical wall arrangement may comprise a grid of four to six pieces or, for an odd number of works, a horizontal row. Asymmetrical arrangements, which may be small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls, have a more collected and eclectic feel. Download the 1stDibs app, which includes a handy “View on Wall” feature that allows you to see how a particular artwork will look on a particular wall, and read about how to arrange wall art. And if you’re searching for the perfect palette for your interior design project, what better place to turn than to the art world’s masters of color?

On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive collection of paintings and other fine art for your home or office. Browse abstract paintings, portrait paintings, paintings by popular artists and more today.