Langlands and Bell

Ben Langlands (born 1955) and Nikki Bell (born 1959) are English artists working together as Langlands and Bell.

Both were born in London and studied art together at Middlesex Polytechnic from 1977 to 1980.

Their art deals with architecture and often takes the form of crisp white-on-white three dimensional architectural models or black and white reliefs.

Some of their work was purchased by Charles Saatchi which was subsequently included in the 1997 Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy in London and later toured to Berlin and New York.

One of their largest works so far has been the 2002 [http://www.langlandsandbell.com/ "Paddington Basin Bridge"] , an actual 8 metre high white metal pedestrian bridge linking Paddington station and the new Paddington Basin Development with a capacity of up to 20,000 people per day. It was constructed in association with Atelier One (Engineers).

Langlands and Bell were in 2002 appointed as official British war artists for the 2001 Invasion of AfghanistanLaura Brandon, "Art And War", I.B.Tauris, 2006, p102. ISBN 1845112377] and were shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2004 for the resulting work, "The House of Osama bin Laden", an interactive computer animation of the house occupied by Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s. [ [http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/2004/langlandsbell.shtm Tate Britain website, accessed Aug 7, 2007] ] The vacant structure acted as a metaphor for Bin Laden's continued existence but non-presence.

References

External links

* [http://www.langlandsandbell.com Langlands and Bell homepage]
* [http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artists/LanglandsAndBell Langlands and Bell] at sculpture.org.uk
** [http://www.sculpture.org.uk/portfolio/LanglandsAndBell/ Portfolio]