The decorative often suggests decadence verging on malaise and in the case of pattern there are further connotations of order, passivity and control. Allowing time to be absorbed in the act of ornamenting a surface appears indulgent particularly as ‘time is running out’ is the watchword for the 21st Century. However in Langley’s recent paintings her traditionally harmonious pictorial elements have been ruptured. Canvas has left the stretcher and tacked to the wall becomes a page from a very personal notebook, written and painted in real time. Lately ‘decorative’ motifs have become more potent agents, encountering the neurotic vacillations of the human mind.
Selected Exhibitions
- 2007 Paisley: Exploding the Teardrop PM Gallery & House, London, UK
- 2004 Purl M.o.D.A. Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, UK
- 2002 Fabric Abbot Hall, Kendal, Cumbria, UK
- 2002 Loop Bankfield Museum, Halifax, UK
- 2002 Showhouse PM Gallery & House London, UK
- 2001 Spin Victoria & Albert Museum London
Awards & Publications
- 2008 Research Fellowship Goldsmiths College University of London Contemporary Textiles:The Fabric of Fine Art. Black Dog Publishing. ISBN 978 1 906155 29 2
- 1993 Abbey Scholarship, Accademia Britannica, Rome, Italy.
- 1991 Sotheby’s Fellowship, Central St Martins School of Art, London, UK.
Curatorial Projects
The Pattern Lab is a project based curatorial group formed in 2007 as a result of the activities of Jane Langley (Lecturer and Research Fellow at Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles, Goldsmith’s College, University of London) Jennifer Wright (Senior Lecturer, Fine Art, BIAD University of Central England) and Kathleen Mullaniff,(Senior Lecturer, Fine Art, Middlesex University). Projects and exhibitions focus on Pattern and textiles as a conceptual framework, networks of connectivity, both actual and metaphorical, textile archives and textile motifs. The Pattern Lab aims to access the expanded field including science, history and technology and is now diversifying its contributors, working with musicians, poets, writers and scientists.
