Langston Amadi is a 23-year-old multifaceted artist based in Atlanta, Georgia, whose mixed-media wallpapers are catching a buzz with locals and the celebrities his work reconstructs. Amadi first popped up on Quaint Revolt‘s radar through Instagram, because that is where journalists go digging for story leads in today’s media industry. Our introduction was through a series of collaborative works with upcoming Atlanta creatives, like Editorial Stylist Kimberly Coulton and Gynella Ngounou of Sew With Self. But it was Amadi’s “Tall as Can be” wallpaper, which features a celestially regal Solange – that inspired the pursuit of an interview. That image has been my phone’s backdrop ever since its release, solely because it invoked in me a feeling the work’s title seemingly intended: Tall As Can Be. That feeling locates Amadi’s genius. These intricate mixtures – of digital and paper collages – are repurposed as palm-sized daily affirmations for Black Women. What better way to stay inspired than through the very device that holds your attention the most? Brilliant!
His business model and marketing strategy are simple yet effective: Capitalize on the Insta-folio tactic. A single tap lures you into Amadi’s creative playground, a utopia where IG stories act as sections of the artist’s CV. A favorite is his ‘Process’ compilation depicting BTS footage of his deconstruct-to-reconstruct works, complemented by his catholic sonic collages (aka master playlists). In the land of Amadi, creativity as expression is more than enough. Creation is for the sake of creation. And survival. I met with Amadi at one of his favorite coffee shops in Decatur, Georgia, with only a few prepared questions. Amid a noisy, packed house and interjections from a well-meaning customer (which caused us to lose half of the conversation in the recording), what is left is an exciting discussion about Langston Amadi’s journey and the constant state of trial-and-error that keeps his art (content and mediums) on its toes.
Starting Out
LA: I [would always draw] and it would be doodles, like patterns and designs, and maybe Star Wars silhouettes. The first time I really worked with paper was in high school at Maynard Jackson. And I remember it so vividly because we were learning about this [artist], Romare Bearden. He’s a famous African–[American] artist, and he did a lot of paper using magazine clippings and different photographs. He would cut them and glue them together into different scenes. And I just rolled with it and made my first works of art that I’m super, duper proud of in that class.
Going Corporate
LA: And then I stopped making artwork for [about] four years. I graduated from Maynard Jackson and then I was just like, let me figure out what I want to do. So, I had a few internships. I got hired at the New York Stock Exchange; I was an analyst for them. I went through six-month classes in programming and taxes. We had to wear a suit every day, and the women had to wear skirts and blazers. We had to wear a tie every day. We had homework, projects, and classes; we had to do public speeches. It was training us basically to step into the corporate arena.
After the six months people got placed somewhere if they were still there. There was a point system; people could point out, they could fire themselves. But I went through with the whole thing. Perfect attendance, never missed a day, made every single homework. I had the most amount of points. It was me and three other people who were at the top. So I got placed at the partner of Europe, which was in the New York Stock Exchange. I was there for a year. And then towards the end of that year, I was like ‘damn, I really wanna have my own business’.
Langston Amadi
Moving Artwards
LA: I had a vision, I’m just not sure how to execute it. I knew I didn’t have a blueprint for how to actualize what I wanted to do: sell my artwork. I didn’t know how to share my vision. At the end of 2016 all the way through 2017, that’s when everything was on pause trying to figure things out. And at the end of 2017, November, after months of testing different things and making mixes, I got fruity loops. I torrented fruity loops. I was trying my hand at music production. I was a cashier at a Deli even though I’m Vegan. So that was really interesting. And I was a barber shop assistant, just trying a whole bunch of different things. I was 21 I think, I’m 23 now and yeah, it was a lot of confusion, a lot of trying to figure things out.
I was listening to a song on Spotify, putting together a playlist because I was making playlists and mixes at that time. There’s a song by Chrome Sparks, I think it’s called ‘Wake’. I had this vision for making artwork and this piece just came to mind. I sat down, I made it – a collage – and I was like, ‘Wow!I really like this. I don’t know why I stopped’. That’s what I was thinking, I don’t know why I stopped making art. I really enjoy this. Over the next month, I made a hundred collages. [I thought to myself] if I’m going to make all this artwork, I should definitely be putting it somewhere. And then I made a hundred more, and at the start of 2018 – on the first of 2018 – I put this all on Instagram. Ever since I’ve definitely been posting every day or almost every day. I have 750 posts in a year and a half. I have at least 2000 works of art at this point, most of which I haven’t shown anybody yet.
Wallpapers and The Future
LA: Some people thought this is so obvious. For me, it’s still very much physical, hands-on; because, every single piece I make I am using a blade. I’m cutting it up. I’m using glue, I’m gluing them together. I’m about to go to the print shop after this, and print out the photos that I selected. I’m printing Ebony Davis, some Zoe Kravitz photos, like 25 photos today. I’m doing them for a singer somewhere in Canada. I do commissions, yeah. With the wallpapers, I’m learning how to give people what they want. That’s been our hurdle. I think for me as the artists, I’m like my way or the highway. At least a little bit, not so much beating people over the head. (Laughing).
Recording cuts off.
