Gary Lang

Vibrant colours are central to the paintings of Gary Lang (*1950 Los Angeles, USA). He seeks to intensify the expressiveness of pure colours through the precision of the composition and in this way creates unique worlds of colour that seem to open up and engulf the viewer. Lang achieves this in his large-scale panel paintings with the "all-over" technique that refuses to take notice of the limits of the canvas. Pioneered by Jackson Pollock (*1912 Cody, Wyoming, USA; †1956 Springs-East Hampton, New York, USA) in his drip paintings, this technique creates the illusion of a picture extending beyond its regular bounds. Inspired by the tradition of colour-field painting, Lang's vivid plaids are based on the meticulous subdivision of the canvas into distinct areas. Adopting an almost conceptual approach, Lang gradually establishes the structure on the canvas, all the while adhering to a very specific pattern. Other variants are explored in different series. Lang's 13-minute video installation - the only audio-visual composition in his body of work - is a digital version of the methodology behind the creation of a plaid based on a pattern of squares and rectangles. Documenting Lang's concept, this video has an almost hypnotic, meditative quality, as it invites the viewer to witness the genesis of the work destined to engulf him.