Capital Growth

Martin Langford

The top-heavy, precarious nature of capitalism is seen as a teetering city built far above the surface of the earth, balanced on a crumbling pedestal that rises into the stratosphere in Langford’s surreal mezzotint “Capital Growth.” A nightmarish visual allegory, it demonstrates contemporary Western society’s need for exponential growth despite its implicit dangers, thus manifesting as a claustrophobic tangle of highways and skyscrapers groaning beneath their own weight, its citizens continuing to drive along as though they weren’t in peril.

Langford takes inspiration from a diverse section of the art world, including M.C. Escher, 19th century mezzotint artist John Martin, contemporary animator Winsor McCay, and the films Metropolis and Brazil. His art reflects his concerns with the destruction of the environment and of political strife, but also examines the human condition with humor, and with an exacting, detailed hand.