Langlands and Bell
Encyclopedia
Langlands & Bell, are two fine artists who work collaboratively as a duo; the two, Ben Langlands (born London 1955) and Nikki Bell (born London 1959), began collaborating in 1978, while studying Fine Art at Middlesex Polytechnic in North London, from 1977 to 1980.
In the mid-1980s, they became known for making monochromatic sculptures and reliefs, often in the form of furniture or architectural models, which employed an analytical and almost archeological approach to architecture and design typologies to explore human social interaction in terms ranging from the personal, to the socio-aesthetic, and socio-political.
Langlands & Bell have exhibited internationally throughout their career including in exhibitions at Tate Britain
and Tate Modern
, the Imperial War Museum
, the Serpentine Gallery
, and the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, at IMMA
, Dublin, Kunsthalle Bielefeld
, Germany, MoMA
, New York, the Central House of the Artist, Moscow, Venice Biennale
, Seoul Biennale, and CCA Kitakyushu and TN Probe, Tokyo in Japan.
Their work was first purchased by Charles Saatchi
in 1990 and 1991 from exhibitions at Maureen Paley Interim Art, London. It was subsequently exhibited in the first of the Young British Artists
exhibitions at the Saatchi Collection, Boundary Road in 1992, and again in the 1997 Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy
in London. Sensation toured to the Hamburger Bahnhof
, Berlin and the Brooklyn Museum
, New York in 1998/99.
In 1996-1997, a major survey exhibition Langlands & Bell Works 1986–1996 co-curated by the Serpentine Gallery
, London, and Kunsthalle Bielefeld
, Germany also toured to Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Palermo
, Sicily
, and Koldo Mitxelena
, San Sebastián
, Spain.
In 2002, Langlands & Bell were commissioned by the Art Commissions Committee of the Department of Art at the Imperial War Museum
, London, to travel to Afghanistan
to research "The Aftermath of September 11 and the War in Afghanistan".
In 2004, they won the BAFTA Award (British Academy of Film & Television Arts) for Interactive Arts Installation for The House of Osama bin Laden, the trilogy of art works resulting from their visit. The group of works includes an interactive computer animation examining the house near Jalalabad
occupied by Osama bin Laden
in the late 1990s. In 2004 Langlands & Bell were also short-listed for the Turner Prize
for the same work. A few days before the exhibition opened the film Zardad's Dog which constituted a third of their presentation was withdrawn due to legal advice received by Tate
that it was sub-judice because of the impending trial of Faryadi Sarwar Zardad
, a former Afghan warlord at the Old Bailey
.
The largest artworks to date by Langlands & Bell are, the 2004 Paddington Basin
Bridge, designed in association with Atelier One
(structural engineers), an 8 metre high x 45 metre long white metal and glass pedestrian bridge linking Paddington station
and the new Paddington Basin Development, London, with a capacity of up to 20,000 people per day; Moving World (Night & Day) 2007, two 6 x 18 metre permanent outdoor sculptures of steel, glass, and digitally controlled neon at London Heathrow, Terminal 5
; and China, Language of Places 2009, the 18 metre wall painting exhibited in English Lounge at Tang Contemporary Art, 798, Beijing in 2009.
Artworks by Langlands & Bell are in the permanent collections of many prominent international art museums including the British Museum
, Imperial War Museum
, Tate
and the V&A in London, MoMA
, New York, the Carnegie Museum of Art
, Pittsburgh, and the Yale Center for British Art
, USA, and the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.
Artistic practice and career
Their artistic practice ranges from sculpture, film and video, to innovative digital media projects, and full-scale architecture. Their work focuses on the complex web of relationships linking people with architecture and the built environment, and on a wider global level, the coded systems of mass-communications and exchange we use to negotiate an increasingly fast-changing technological world.In the mid-1980s, they became known for making monochromatic sculptures and reliefs, often in the form of furniture or architectural models, which employed an analytical and almost archeological approach to architecture and design typologies to explore human social interaction in terms ranging from the personal, to the socio-aesthetic, and socio-political.
Langlands & Bell have exhibited internationally throughout their career including in exhibitions at Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
and Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
, the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, the Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
, and the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, at IMMA
Imma
Imma is a large genus of moths in the family Immidae....
, Dublin, Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Kunsthalle Bielefeld
The Kunsthalle Bielefeld is a modern art museum in Bielefeld, Germany. It was designed by Philip Johnson in 1968, and paid for by the businessman and art patron Rudolf August Oetker.-Collection and exhibitions:...
, Germany, MoMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
, New York, the Central House of the Artist, Moscow, Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, Seoul Biennale, and CCA Kitakyushu and TN Probe, Tokyo in Japan.
Their work was first purchased by Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
in 1990 and 1991 from exhibitions at Maureen Paley Interim Art, London. It was subsequently exhibited in the first of the Young British Artists
Young British Artists
Young British Artists or YBAs is the name given to a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London, in 1988...
exhibitions at the Saatchi Collection, Boundary Road in 1992, and again in the 1997 Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in London. Sensation toured to the Hamburger Bahnhof
Hamburger Bahnhof
Hamburger Bahnhof is a former railway station in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstraße in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as the Museum für Gegenwart , a contemporary art museum....
, Berlin and the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, New York in 1998/99.
In 1996-1997, a major survey exhibition Langlands & Bell Works 1986–1996 co-curated by the Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
, London, and Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Kunsthalle Bielefeld
The Kunsthalle Bielefeld is a modern art museum in Bielefeld, Germany. It was designed by Philip Johnson in 1968, and paid for by the businessman and art patron Rudolf August Oetker.-Collection and exhibitions:...
, Germany also toured to Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, and Koldo Mitxelena
Koldo Mitxelena
Koldo Mitxelena Elissalt was an eminent Basque linguist...
, San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, Spain.
In 2002, Langlands & Bell were commissioned by the Art Commissions Committee of the Department of Art at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, London, to travel to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to research "The Aftermath of September 11 and the War in Afghanistan".
In 2004, they won the BAFTA Award (British Academy of Film & Television Arts) for Interactive Arts Installation for The House of Osama bin Laden, the trilogy of art works resulting from their visit. The group of works includes an interactive computer animation examining the house near Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
occupied by Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
in the late 1990s. In 2004 Langlands & Bell were also short-listed for the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
for the same work. A few days before the exhibition opened the film Zardad's Dog which constituted a third of their presentation was withdrawn due to legal advice received by Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
that it was sub-judice because of the impending trial of Faryadi Sarwar Zardad
Faryadi Sarwar Zardad
Faryadi Sarwar Zardad is a former Afghan warlord. In 2005 he was convicted in the United Kingdom where he was living, for conspiring to take hostages and conspiring to torture during the 1990s in Afghanistan.-War crimes:Born circa 1963, Faryadi Sarwar Zardad is Pashtun and a former Mujahideen...
, a former Afghan warlord at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
.
The largest artworks to date by Langlands & Bell are, the 2004 Paddington Basin
Paddington Basin
Paddington Basin is an area of Paddington, London named after the nearby canal basin.The junction of the Regent's Canal and the Grand Junction Canal is close to this point but the basin itself is the terminus of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Junction Canal. It was opened in 1801...
Bridge, designed in association with Atelier One
Atelier One
Atelier One is a British structural engineering company, established in 1989 with offices in London and Brighton. The company has collaborated with architects, designers and artists , and is consistently experimental...
(structural engineers), an 8 metre high x 45 metre long white metal and glass pedestrian bridge linking Paddington station
Paddington station
Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
and the new Paddington Basin Development, London, with a capacity of up to 20,000 people per day; Moving World (Night & Day) 2007, two 6 x 18 metre permanent outdoor sculptures of steel, glass, and digitally controlled neon at London Heathrow, Terminal 5
Terminal 5
Terminal 5 may refer to*London Heathrow Terminal 5, a passenger terminal at London Heathrow Airport, England*London Heathrow Terminal 5 station, a rail station serving London Heathrow Terminal 5*Terminal 5 , a venue in New York City....
; and China, Language of Places 2009, the 18 metre wall painting exhibited in English Lounge at Tang Contemporary Art, 798, Beijing in 2009.
Artworks by Langlands & Bell are in the permanent collections of many prominent international art museums including the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
and the V&A in London, MoMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
, New York, the Carnegie Museum of Art
Carnegie Museum of Art
The Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...
, Pittsburgh, and the Yale Center for British Art
Yale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...
, USA, and the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.