Laurie Langford
Laurie Anne (Rayner) Langford[1][page needed][better source needed] (born 1965 Toronto, Canada) is a Canadian assemblage artist featured in critic Lorenzo Buj's essay, "The Sacred and Profane".[1] Langford inserts subversive humour into her installations to prick debate on contemporary gender expectations. Her mixed-media shadow boxes, collage, photography, and printmaking aim to challenge conventions of sexuality, domesticity, family, history and the body. Inspired by artist Barbara Kruger, Elizabeth 'Bloodbath' McGrath, and Norm Barney, as well as poets e.e. cummings and Edgar Allan Poe, Langford's work narrates "pop culture innocence gone horribly wrong" (Vanderwall, 2011).[2]
Langford uses a detailed, mixed-media overlay method to bring forth the dissenting story in each found piece, aiming to thereby disturb the viewer's comfortable seat in the world. "A good subtitle for Laurie Langford's special brand of feminist invective", Lorenzo Buj writes (2012),[1] “would be ‘Bitterness and Bravado’ because that’s what Langford’s ensemble of boxed-in Barbie dolls seems to want to communicate." (Buj, 2012)
Early life[edit]
In 1965, Langford was born in Toronto to a nurse, Sandra Birch, and an engineer, B.I. Rayner III (descendant of the famous "Big Six Combine" Silver Fox breeders, Silas Rayner and B.I. Rayner).[3][not in citation given] Langford’s parents were originally from Prince Edward Island and, in 1972, they decided to leave Toronto and return to the Island to raise their three daughters. Langford spent her childhood near her grandparents' dairy farm. Her grandparents were custodians of the Anglican Church which was the centre of the small community where she lived. During this time, Langford learned many of the parables and rituals of religion in Sunday School.
In the late 1970s, the family returned once again to Ontario so that her mother could attend medical school. Langford experienced culture shock during both moves but adapted quickly. This time in her life formed her lifelong fascination with opposites: good and evil, urban and rural, male and female.
The family moved many times due to the father’s employment and Langford ended up attending three different high schools. When Langford’s parents divorced in 1985, she attended Sheridan College (Oakville) for Advertising, and then received her B.A. in English Literature and Art History from the University of Toronto. Langford began painting during university, but her interest in the medium lasted only two years. In 1997, Langford married and settled in Chatham, Ontario where Langford has a studio. They have two sons, and live in a mid-century modern home designed by architect Joseph Storey. Langford continues to participate in exhibitions throughout South Western Ontario and Michigan.
Career[edit]
Langford began pursuing her art practice after her youngest son entered public school in 2006. Her first exhibition, Guys & Dolls, featured 10 photo-based prints of her son's Ken and Barbie dolls, and was held at ARTspace in Chatham, Ontario, in 2009.
Solo exhibitions[edit]
- 2014– The Four Housewives of the Apocalypse: Thames Art Gallery (TAG), Chatham, Ontario
- 2009– Guys & Dolls: ARTspace, Chatham, Ontario]
Selected group exhibitions[edit]
- 2016 – Off-Hand Remarks, 2-person show: ARTspace; Chatham, Ontario[4]
- 2015– Women: Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit; Detroit, Michigan
- 2014– The Square Foot Show: Paula White Diamond Gallery; Waterloo, Ontario
- 2014– Eye for Art 2014, juried exhibition: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
- 2014– The League of Extraordinary Ladies, 2-person show: Glitter Milk Gallery; Grand Rapids, Michigan
- 2012– Eye for Art 2012, juried exhibition: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
- 2012– Sacred & Profane, 2-person show: WKP Kennedy Gallery; North Bay, Ontario
- 2012– Sacred & Profane, 2-person show: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
- 2011– 2011 Juried Show, Thames Art Gallery: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
- 2011– The Exhibitchin', 3-person show: ARTspace; Chatham, Ontario
- 2010– Eye for Art 2010, juried exhibition: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
- 2009– Something Queer Goes Here, 5-person show: ARTspace; Chatham, Ontario
- 2008– Eye for Art 2008, juried exhibition: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
- 2006– Eye for Art 2006, juried exhibition: Thames Art Gallery; Chatham, Ontario
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buj, Lorenzo (2012). Grimes, Ronald L., ed. Rite out of Place: Ritual, Media, and the Arts. Oxford University Press (published August 10, 2006). ISBN 9780195345742. Retrieved July 6, 2016. Search this book on
- ↑ Vanderwall, Phil. (2011). 'The Exhibitchin'. Juried Art Exhibition, Art Space, Chatham, Ontario.
- ↑ MacDonald, Edward (2000). If You're Stronghearted: Prince Edward Island in the Twentieth Century. Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation. ISBN 978-0920434369. Search this book on
- ↑ Barbed Magazine. (2016). Laurie Langford. Barbed. Detroit, Michigan.
This article "Laurie Langford" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
