No Future Projects present

Angel Dust : Matthew Langley + Douglas Witmer

www . matthewlangley . com (Brooklyn . NY)
www . douglaswitmer . com (Philadelphia . PA)
Jan 6 – Feb 1, 2010

( L ) Witmer : Untitled (Marigold) . Acrylic on canvas

( R ) Langley : Lovers By Rote . Acrylic on paper mounted on panel

Langley : On Developing New Images

The artworks come from a series of divergent strategies. One of building and extending – the other of reducing and minimizing. These disparate approaches are not a way to impose meanings on the work, but can be viewed as a metaphoric crossroads. This crossroads is about extending the relationship of these different approaches, while at the same time allowing the viewer the liberty of time for further reading of the work. The image making that comes from this strategic foundation will be clear, concise and rational, while at the same time allowing for a sense of community and/or contemplation to develop in and around the artworks.

The artworks are not linear narratives, this allows the element of time to be stretched or compressed to accommodate the viewer. This flexibility to time as well as environment allows the artwork to reveal itself in slower and calmer ways than an artwork that is based only on the relationship of drama and detail of the forms presented inside of it, while allowing those with a more compressed timeline to react to the base elements of the composition and painterliness of the overall approach.

This open ended approach is central to the artworks I create and allows them to be developed with a non-specific exactness.

Witmer : …Not A Statement

A painting is not a statement.  It is the evidence of painting.

Painting is a relationship.  The relationship is ongoing.  To paint is an act of devotion in the relationship.

I want to believe that in the relationship of painting the act of painting is its own reward.

I want to believe that the relationship of painting, when one devotes oneself to it, extends beyond the boundaries of a painting, however indefinite or unmeasureable this extension may seem to be.

I want to believe that the relationship of painting values inquiry over conclusion.

To attempt to be conclusive in painting is to attempt to make paintings that are, in effect, statements.

Attempting to make a statement with a painting undermines the idea that painting is a relationship.

These words are a statement and they are not painting.

Advertisement