Jon Langford art exhibit at Tony Fitzpatrick's studio a full-circle moment

The opening of an exhibition of musician and artist Jon Langford’s paintings at The Dime, 1513 N. Western Avenue, is a full-circle moment for Langford and artist and gallery owner Tony Fitzpatrick, who hosted Langford’s first exhibition back in 1993 — five years after meeting him for the first time.

Langford, who is from Wales in Great Britain, was nearby Graceland in Memphis in 1988 with Sally Timms (a bandmate from their punk band The Mekons), when Fitzpatrick, who they met at a club show the night before, ran into them while on the run from what he calls the “Elvis cops,” aka the security personnel, at the iconic residence. Fitzpatrick had tried to sneak into a prohibited area in the home, specifically upstairs to find the King’s bedroom.

Fitzpatrick corroborated Langford’s recollection of the events, adding that he eluded his pursuers by running into a strip mall across the road from Graceland, where he proceeded to chat up the musicians. Fitzpatrick gave them his business card and did not think much about it until he saw Langford again at Metro a few years later, after the punk rocker had moved permanently to Chicago.

“He was doing these drawings for New City and one night I ran into Jon and told him about an etching press that I owned. After that, he came down and made an extensive body of work over a few years,” Fitzpatrick said.

Langford said Fitzpatrick instilled in him the confidence that art could be more than a hobby for the rocker.

Bob Chiarito/For the Sun-Times

“There were a few walls in my head that I had to break down,” Langford said. “Tony handed me the sledgehammer. He told me, ‘you’re going to do an art show at my gallery, you’re going to make some etchings at my studio and it’s going to be really good’ — and he was right on all counts. I was a disillusioned punk rocker who had just been fired by a major label. It was like someone throwing a drowning man a rope.”

Fitzpatrick said Langford’s art has grown a lot from when he first met him but has always had an edge to it.

“When I first started working with him he was really locked into the space race of the 1950s between the U.S. and the Russians. [The works] were always satirical but never cruel,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that Langford’s subject matter is more broad than in years past, but still pointed and cheeky.

“They are often about how someone from another English-speaking country viewed us from afar.”

The paintings on wood are usually made with acrylic, oils and pastels, along with different glazes, Langford said.

Fitzpatrick said he has wanted to host another show for Langford since 2012, but conflicting schedules got in the way until they teamed up in April for “Cinderella Blackbird,” a night of poems and songs in memory of the late WXRT DJ Lin Brehmer. Fitzpatrick said it was while preparing for that show that he told Langford “let’s not let the year get away from us,” and they agreed on February.

Bob Chiarito/For the Sun-Times

The two artists work well together because, as Fitzpatrick said, both “never really fit in to the blue-chip, wine-and-cheese art world.”

Langford agreed, saying “I just became an American citizen this week and still feel like an outsider.”

The show opened February 16 to a packed house, and was not like a typical art opening. At times, Langford grabbed his guitar and played some music with Timms, John Szymanski and Martin Billheimer. Fitzpatrick had to send out for more beer and wine just 10 minutes after the official start. But there was no slam dancing and the focus of most who attended was on the 18 paintings in the show, most of which were created in the last four months.

Langford said the 15 new pieces “were very much informed by the processes I learned with Tony back in 1993,” which was another full-circle moment, which he said he thought about a lot over the last few months.

A day after the opening, Langford was back at The Dime to greet people who couldn’t make it the night before. He said he’ll be there often, especially on weekends during the run, to meet his fans. Reflecting on the public’s response so far, he said it felt like a homecoming.

“It feels like Chicago put its arm around me and gave me a hug. Chicago has a habit of doing that, it’s a place that’s always supported my creative weirdness.”