Richard Lang Chandler

I am powerfully drawn to both the art of cityscape and that of landscape. While my paintings remain rooted in literal reality, they also reveal unseen forces that are continuously exerting themselves against the fixed boundaries of observed forms. Buildings undulate, skies and sidewalks are wildly dappled, and perspectives seem to head towards some extraordinary other-worldly denouement. Yet it all holds together in good order. Normal business is transacted without fuss or anxiety. The rhythms of nature continue to unfold in their timeless cycle. Figures, in fact, are not the least bit exercised by the cosmic forces electrifying their environments. Whether this arises out of wise enlightenment or typical human complacency is anybody's guess and is part of the cunning humor of these paintings. A key message here: there is a relentless urgency to life whether or not one feels it. My ability as an artist is to insure that one does, indeed, feel it. Yet - and this is part of the pleasure of my gift - I convey this experience in a non-coercive, matter-of-fact way. These paintings overflow with color and are marked by an intense acuity. One is able to imbibe, as it were, the sounds and scents of the streets and country scenes as a viscer...

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture
The Art Students’ League, New York, New York
Barnet, Hale, Leffel, Rehberger