We received a copy of the new Wes Lang book for review recently and having had a better chance to sit down and leaf through it this week, it was about time for me to pop the review up.
The book, a collection of illustrations and paintings by Lang depicts some of his most controversial work, which melts together images of Americana and the Wild West alongside contemporary pop culture and kitsch iconography. The end result is something that suggest a view ‘war and hatred and hope and idealism’.
Wes has previously been published in Playboy magazine alongside his many exhibitions across the US. This, on the other hand, is the first published collection of his work. This is a book that gives the reader a huge amount of images that allow you to stare at the paper works and the immense detail inside the hand drawn depictions of American history, biker culture, tattoo iconography, ornament, Native American art, pin-ups, newspaper headlines and Taoist texts.
The book also contains an essay by author James Frey and will undoubtedly appeal to both Lang’s substantial online following and to fans of Americana.
