The Chicago artist duo, Robert Davis/Michael Langlois, have an unusual approach to painting: they share equal roles in developing ideas, choosing subjects, and creating the works. Robert Davis/ Michael Langlois debut a new series of paintings, Into the Void: The Ballad of The Martyr as Told by Ingres, at the next UBS 12 x 12 New Artists/New Work that opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, during First Fridays on the evening of September 4, and runs through September 27, 2009.
Robert Davis and Michael Langlois with their painting Iman, 2009. Courtesy of the Artists.
Three photo-realistic paintings and a wall painting feature subjects in a loose narrative that are united by the theme of martyrdom. The Into the Void subjects include the French Neoclassical painter, Jean Auguste Dominque Ingres; a young Palestinian-American girl; a lush jungle landscape replicated from a computer screensaver; and Soundgarden lyrics translated into Farsi text.
Davis and Langlois met at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and have collaborated for more than ten years. They work in a fifty-fifty fashion and produce a single cohesive idea and painting. They occasionally work on a painting simultaneously, but more often take turns painting. The artists lead a free gallery talk about their work on Tuesday, September 15, at 6 pm.
September’s First Friday’s theme is “Muse.” Guests may find a match at the G5 iMac Digital Dating Bar; dance to Icelandic tunes spun by DJ Althea and DJ Pogo; partake in a scavenger hunt around the museum; and play cornhole games in the sculpture garden. Guests may enjoy complimentary Puck’s hors d’oeuvres and purchase food from the grill on the terrace and drinks from the bar.
www.mcachicago.org
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