Bret Langford
Artist Statement:
In today’s advanced digital media, fantasy and reality can many times blur. With this in mind, I have strived to maintained to a sense of integrity. Whether it is a photograph, pen&ink, acrylic or digital image. I only use original artwork that I have created. I create what I call a “Tribadelic Digital Abstraction”,--- a digital mix of light and color, image and design. The works of Picasso, Miro, Kandinsky, Warhol, the Pre-Columbian Mayan and Aztec artists, have been of the greatest influence to me.
Bret Langford’s History:
My earliest memories are filled with childhood finger paintings. My mom kept them for me. Pulling them out of the box I keep them in helps remind me of the open-ended freedom of the child like creative mind. I eventually moved up to the technology of the day, the Etch-A-Sketch. For most of us who where children of the sixties, this was our version of the super computer. My dad gave me a camera for my 16th birthday. This really opened up the world of creativity to me.
Art school in the 80’s is not what I would call the most encouraging place to be. We where told that the new technology of the computer would completely replace us as graphic artists. This wonderful news was not greatly encouraging considering, Fullerton College at the time had one computer in the library that no one seem to know how to use. Disgusted and discouraged by low paying graphics jobs of the 80’s I got into electronics sales. Ironically this is where I received my first electronic Etch-A-Sketch, a slow PC with a Paintbrush program on it. I have been hooked ever since.
Since that first day of magic when I grabbed hold of the computer’s mouse I have been creating to my hearts content. In the early 90’s I finally bought my first PC, got a scanner and started to incorporate my photographs and line drawings into my digital artwork. Faster computers and more advanced graphics programs like Photoshop, have made my world of creativity turn new back flips. Anything is now possible. The greatest aid of all that I have found is the undo command! It is much cheaper than the throw in the trash or paint over command.
Recent Exhibits:
1998, “Stand By Your Van” back cover CD artwork for rock group Sublime. Long Beach, CA.
1998, Solo exhibit “Byte Mind”, Cousins Coffee & Tea. Long Beach, CA.
2000, Image Titled: “Spiked”, 1st Place award, Long Beach Arts juried exhibit “Digital Photography.” Long Beach, CA.
2001, Solo exhibit World Trade Center. Long Beach, CA.
2001, Solo exhibit titled “Caught In My Eye”, Two Umbrellas Café, Long Beach, CA.
2001, Image Titled “Arresting”, Long Beach Arts juried exhibit. “Long Beach, Past Present & Future”. 1st Place award, in category of Social Statement.
2001, 12 images of Long Beach. On display at Long Beach City Hall, Offices of City Auditor. Long Beach, CA.
2001, 2 images published in The American Muse arts magazine. Fall 2001 issue.
2001, Solo exhibit, Landmark Building. Long Beach, CA
2001, Solo exhibit, Coffee Cup Cafe. Long Beach, CA.
2002, Collaborative exhibit titled "Digital Goddesses", Universal Unitarian Church. Long Beach, CA.
2002, Collaborative exhibit titled "Futurism", Élan Collection. Long Beach, CA.
2002, 3 images received the prize of Honorable Mention, "Exposure 2002 Photographic Competition", Hellada Gallery, Long Beach, CA.
2002 Collaborative exhibit "The Black Box Gallery/Artist Colony", Santa Ana, CA.