BIOGRAPHY
WHERE THE WORK COMES FROM.
RANDOLPH LOUDE (B. 1988, WASHINGTON, D.C.)
IS A BLACK AMERICAN MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST WHOSE PRACTICE MOVES ACROSS PHOTOGRAPHY, PAINTING, DIGITAL WORK, MUSIC, WRITING, DESIGN, AND OBJECT MAKING.
BORN TO A GUYANESE IMMIGRANT MOTHER AND AN AFRICAN AMERICAN FATHER, LOUDE HAS BUILT HIS PRACTICE AROUND A LIFELONG FASCINATION WITH HOW IMAGE, MATERIAL, SOUND, SPACE, AND EMOTION SHAPE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. RATHER THAN TREATING THESE DISCIPLINES AS SEPARATE PURSUITS, HE APPROACHES THEM AS DIFFERENT LANGUAGES WITHIN THE SAME EVOLVING WORLD.
LONG BEFORE IDENTIFYING HIMSELF AS AN ARTIST, LOUDE WAS FASCINATED BY DESIGN. AS A CHILD, THAT FASCINATION FIRST APPEARED THROUGH AN OBSESSION WITH AUTOMOBILES. CARS INTRODUCED HIM TO FORM, PROPORTION, MATERIAL, PERFORMANCE, AND THE EMOTIONAL PRESENCE OF DESIGNED OBJECTS BEFORE HE HAD A FORMAL VOCABULARY FOR UNDERSTANDING ANY OF THEM.
AS ADOLESCENCE CHANGED HIS AWARENESS OF HIMSELF AND HIS SURROUNDINGS, THAT FASCINATION SHIFTED TOWARD PERSONAL IMAGE. NATURALLY INTROVERTED, LOUDE BEGAN TO RECOGNIZE THAT ALTERING THE WAY HE PRESENTED HIMSELF COULD ALTER THE WAY THE WORLD RESPONDED TO HIM. CLOTHING, GROOMING, POSTURE, AND PRESENTATION BECAME MORE THAN AESTHETIC DECISIONS.
HE DISCOVERED THAT IMAGE COULD COMMUNICATE BEFORE A PERSON EVER SPOKE.
WHAT FASCINATED HIM WAS ULTIMATELY MORE POWERFUL THAN THE ATTENTION ITSELF: TRANSFORMATION HAD CHANGED PERCEPTION.
THAT DISCOVERY DREW LOUDE TOWARD FASHION AND DESIGN. AS HIS EYE FOR FASHION DEVELOPED, OBSERVATION QUICKLY TURNED INTO MAKING. HE BEGAN CONSTANTLY SKETCHING CLOTHING AND FASHION IDEAS, USING DRAWING AS AN EARLY WAY OF GIVING FORM TO WHAT HE COULD ALREADY IMAGINE.
ALONGSIDE THE FASHION SKETCHES, HE DREW ARCHITECTURAL PLANS AND BLUEPRINTS FOR HOMES HE IMAGINED HIMSELF LIVING IN. WITHOUT YET HAVING A FORMAL LANGUAGE FOR EITHER DISCIPLINE, LOUDE WAS ALREADY THINKING ABOUT DESIGN AT DIFFERENT SCALES: THE THINGS A PERSON MIGHT WEAR, THE OBJECTS THEY MIGHT LIVE WITH, AND THE ENVIRONMENTS THEY MIGHT INHABIT.
THESE DRAWINGS MARKED AN IMPORTANT SHIFT. HE WAS NO LONGER INTERESTED ONLY IN HOW EXISTING THINGS COULD TRANSFORM HIM. HE WAS BEGINNING TO IMAGINE WHAT HE COULD CREATE HIMSELF.
FASHION, ARCHITECTURE, OBJECTS, AND ENVIRONMENT BEGAN TO EXIST TOGETHER IN HIS IMAGINATION LONG BEFORE THEY WOULD EXIST TOGETHER IN HIS PRACTICE. BENEATH THESE INTERESTS WAS AN AMBITION THAT WOULD FOLLOW HIM FOR YEARS: TO EVENTUALLY FIND A WAY FOR EVERYTHING THAT FASCINATED HIM TO EXIST TOGETHER.
A SEEMINGLY ORDINARY ENCOUNTER WOULD HELP TURN THAT FASCINATION TOWARD A MORE DELIBERATE PURSUIT.
DURING A CAB RIDE, LOUDE RECEIVED A TWO-DOLLAR BILL FROM THE DRIVER. HE TOOK THE UNUSUAL BILL AS A SIGN, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING THE DRIVER SAID THAT WOULD REMAIN WITH HIM LONG AFTER THE RIDE: IF YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE, YOUR WORK NEVER FEELS LIKE WORK.
THE SENTIMENT WAS SIMPLE, BUT IT REACHED LOUDE AT A MOMENT WHEN HE WAS BEGINNING TO QUESTION WHETHER BARBERING, WHICH HAD BECOME HIS PROFESSION, SHOULD REMAIN AT THE CENTER OF HIS WORKING LIFE. THE ENCOUNTER GAVE LANGUAGE TO SOMETHING THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN DEVELOPING THROUGH HIS DRAWINGS, HIS INTEREST IN FASHION, AND HIS DESIRE TO CREATE. RATHER THAN CONTINUING TO TREAT THOSE INSTINCTS AS SOMETHING PARALLEL TO HIS PROFESSION, LOUDE BEGAN SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO BUILD HIS LIFE AROUND THEM.
HE KEPT THE TWO-DOLLAR BILL.
YEARS LATER, THE VERY SAME BILL WOULD REAPPEAR IN HIS ARTISTIC PRACTICE. LOUDE PHOTOGRAPHED IT FOR THE WORK KARMA IS A BITCH, GOOD LUCK, TRANSFORMING AN OBJECT HE HAD ONCE INTERPRETED AS A PRIVATE SIGN INTO THE SUBJECT OF AN ARTWORK. WHAT HAD ENTERED HIS LIFE AS AN ORDINARY PIECE OF CURRENCY HAD ACCUMULATED ANOTHER KIND OF VALUE: MEMORY, SYMBOLISM, AND HISTORY.
THE OBJECT HAD SURVIVED LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME EVIDENCE.
LOUDE ENROLLED IN AN ACCELERATED BACHELOR’S PROGRAM IN FASHION RETAIL MANAGEMENT AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF WASHINGTON.
HE DROPPED OUT AFTER HIS FIRST YEAR.
AT TWENTY-THREE, WHILE LIVING IN MARYLAND, HE WAS SCOUTED FOR MODELING, BUT PURSUING THE OPPORTUNITY WOULD REQUIRE HIM TO MOVE. HE INTERPRETED IT AS AN UNEXPECTED ROUTE TOWARD THE CREATIVE LIFE HE HAD ALREADY ENVISIONED FOR HIMSELF AND RELOCATED TO NEW YORK CITY.
MODELING WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE THE DESTINATION.
LOUDE BELIEVED THAT WORKING DIRECTLY WITH FASHION CLIENTS WOULD PLACE HIM INSIDE THE INDUSTRY, ALLOWING HIM TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS, REVEAL HIS DESIGN ABILITIES, AND EVENTUALLY TRANSITION INTO THE CREATIVE POSITION HE IMAGINED FOR HIMSELF.
NEW YORK DISRUPTED THAT EXPECTATION.
DURING A MODELING JOB, A CONVERSATION WITH A CLIENT FORCED LOUDE TO CONFRONT THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN BEING GRANTED PROXIMITY TO A CREATIVE SYSTEM AND POSSESSING AUTHORSHIP WITHIN IT. HE HAD BEEN HIRED TO PERFORM A PARTICULAR ROLE. THE AMBITIONS AND ABILITIES THAT EXISTED BEYOND THAT ROLE WERE HIS RESPONSIBILITY TO DEVELOP.
IT BECAME AN EARLY LESSON IN CREATIVE INDEPENDENCE. LOUDE BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND THAT WAITING FOR AN ESTABLISHED INDUSTRY TO RECOGNIZE EVERYTHING HE COULD BECOME WAS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM CONSTRUCTING A SPACE IN WHICH THOSE POSSIBILITIES COULD EXIST ON HIS OWN TERMS.
THAT INSTINCT TOWARD AUTHORSHIP WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME CENTRAL TO HIS ARTISTIC PRACTICE.
AFTER INITIALLY LIVING IN HARLEM, LOUDE LATER ESTABLISHED HIMSELF IN BROOKLYN. HIS EXPERIENCES WITH FASHION, MODELING, DESIGN, AND PERSONAL PRESENTATION CONTINUED TO SHAPE HIS UNDERSTANDING OF IDENTITY AND IMAGE.
HIS PARALLEL CAREER AS A LICENSED BARBER, BEGINNING IN MARYLAND IN 2006 AND CONTINUING AFTER BECOMING LICENSED IN NEW YORK, PROVIDED ANOTHER SUSTAINED ENCOUNTER WITH TRANSFORMATION AND THE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN APPEARANCE, IDENTITY, CONFIDENCE, AND PERCEPTION.
AS HIS CREATIVE LANGUAGE CONTINUED TO DEVELOP, PHOTOGRAPHY OFFERED LOUDE A WAY TO MOVE BEYOND IMAGINING VISUAL WORLDS AND BEGIN CONSTRUCTING THEM.
HE BECAME OBSESSED WITH FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY, STUDYING THE WORK OF PHOTOGRAPHERS INCLUDING STEVEN KLEIN, JUERGEN TELLER, AND PATRICK DEMARCHELIER. WHAT HELD HIS ATTENTION WAS NOT SIMPLY THE CLOTHING OR THE SUBJECTS BEING PHOTOGRAPHED, BUT THE ABILITY OF A SINGLE IMAGE TO SUGGEST AN ENTIRE WORLD. FASHION COULD BECOME NARRATIVE. A LOCATION COULD BECOME PSYCHOLOGICAL. LIGHT, COLOR, STYLING, AND COMPOSITION COULD CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE THAT EXTENDED FAR BEYOND THE GARMENT ITSELF.
THAT POSSIBILITY RESONATED WITH AN INSTINCT THAT HAD BEEN DEVELOPING SINCE HIS EARLY FASHION SKETCHES AND ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS: THE DESIRE TO BUILD COMPLETE VISUAL ENVIRONMENTS RATHER THAN ISOLATED OBJECTS.
LOUDE’S INITIAL EXPERIMENTS WITH THE CAMERA WERE ROOTED IN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY, BUT CLOTHING ALONE WAS NEVER THE ENTIRE SUBJECT. HE BECAME INTERESTED IN CONSTRUCTING ATMOSPHERES AROUND THE PEOPLE HE PHOTOGRAPHED, USING FASHION, ENVIRONMENT, COMPOSITION, COLOR, AND MOOD TO SUGGEST SOMETHING LARGER THAN WHAT WAS LITERALLY PRESENT IN THE FRAME.
THE CAMERA GAVE HIM A MEANS OF BRINGING TOGETHER INTERESTS THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY EXISTED ACROSS DIFFERENT FORMS: THE BODY, CLOTHING, OBJECTS, SPACE, IMAGE, AND EMOTION COULD NOW OPERATE WITHIN A SINGLE COMPOSITION.
EARLY WORKS SUCH AS SIGNAL LOSS EMERGED FROM THIS PERIOD OF EXPLORATION. THE WORK BEGAN WITH THE LANGUAGE OF FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY BUT INCREASINGLY USED FASHION AS A VEHICLE FOR SOMETHING MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL. THE GARMENT COULD ESTABLISH CHARACTER. THE ENVIRONMENT COULD CREATE TENSION. COLOR AND COMPOSITION COULD ALTER EMOTION. THE PHOTOGRAPH COULD SUGGEST A WORLD BEYOND WHAT WAS LITERALLY VISIBLE.
WHAT BEGAN AS AN INTEREST IN CREATING ATMOSPHERE THROUGH FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY GRADUALLY EXPANDED INTO A BROADER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CAMERA. PHOTOGRAPHY COULD DOCUMENT WHAT EXISTED, BUT IT COULD ALSO BECOME THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING ELSE: A RECORD FROM WHICH AN EXPERIENCE COULD BE REINTERPRETED THROUGH ANOTHER MEDIUM.
AT THE CENTER OF LOUDE’S VISUAL PRACTICE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DOCUMENTATION AND INTERPRETATION.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE EVIDENCE; THE PAINTINGS ARE THEIR EMOTIONAL COLOR TRANSLATION.
PHOTOGRAPHY ESTABLISHES WHAT EXISTED. PAINTING ALLOWS THAT EVIDENCE TO MOVE BEYOND DOCUMENTATION AND INTO FEELING. COLOR, TEXTURE, ABSTRACTION, AND COMPOSITION BECOME METHODS OF TRANSLATING NOT SIMPLY WHAT AN EXPERIENCE LOOKED LIKE, BUT WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO OCCUPY IT.
THIS RELATIONSHIP CAN BE SEEN ACROSS WORKS INCLUDING BODEGA, LIMINAL PRACTICE, CHAOS IS THE NEW BLACK, AND THE EARLIER BUFFERING LUST. THEIR SUBJECTS AND VISUAL LANGUAGES MAY DIFFER, BUT THE WORKS REPEATEDLY RETURN TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN EXTERNAL APPEARANCE AND INTERNAL EXPERIENCE: HOW PEOPLE CONSTRUCT THEMSELVES, HOW ENVIRONMENTS SHAPE BEHAVIOR, HOW IDENTITY CHANGES ACCORDING TO CONTEXT, AND HOW AN EXPERIENCE BELONGING TO ONE PERSON CAN UNEXPECTEDLY BECOME RECOGNIZABLE TO ANOTHER.
THAT POSSIBILITY OF RECOGNITION IS FUNDAMENTAL TO LOUDE’S WORK. HE DOES NOT REQUIRE THE VIEWER TO SHARE HIS BIOGRAPHY IN ORDER TO ENTER IT. A WORK MAY BEGIN WITH SOMETHING SPECIFIC TO HIM WITHOUT REMAINING EXCLUSIVELY HIS. LOUDE INTENTIONALLY LEAVES ROOM FOR INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION, ALLOWING THE MEMORIES, HISTORIES, AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE VIEWER TO PARTICIPATE IN WHAT THE WORK BECOMES.
THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IS NOT SECONDARY TO THE WORK. IT IS PART OF ITS COMPLETION.
MUSIC BECAME ANOTHER PART OF THIS EVOLVING LANGUAGE DURING THE PANDEMIC. A LIFELONG MUSIC ENTHUSIAST, LOUDE HAD LONG BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT COMPOSITION AND PRODUCTION WITHOUT HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERIOUSLY EXPLORE EITHER. DURING A PERIOD OF QUARANTINE WITH HIS NEPHEW, WHO HAD A STUDIO IN HIS APARTMENT, LOUDE SUDDENLY FOUND HIMSELF SURROUNDED BY THE EQUIPMENT HE HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO UNDERSTAND.
CURIOSITY BECAME EXPERIMENTATION, AND EXPERIMENTATION DEVELOPED INTO ANOTHER FORM OF AUTHORSHIP. LEARNING TO COMPOSE AND PRODUCE INTRODUCED LOUDE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF CONSTRUCTING EMOTION AND ATMOSPHERE THROUGH SOUND. MUSIC BECAME ANOTHER MATERIAL CAPABLE OF INTERACTING WITH IMAGES, OBJECTS, ENVIRONMENTS, AND EVENTUALLY EXHIBITIONS.
AROUND THIS PERIOD, ANOTHER PART OF LOUDE’S EARLY THINKING BEGAN TO RETURN.
AFTER YEARS OF LIVING WITH ROOMMATES IN NEW YORK, LOUDE EVENTUALLY ENTERED A NEW PERIOD OF PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE, ESTABLISHING A HOME OF HIS OWN AND, FOR THE FIRST TIME, HAVING COMPLETE AUTHORITY OVER THE ENVIRONMENT HE INHABITED.
THAT INDEPENDENCE AWAKENED AN EARLIER FASCINATION.
THE CHILD WHO HAD ONCE DRAWN BLUEPRINTS FOR HOMES HE IMAGINED LIVING IN WAS NOW ABLE TO SHAPE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT ACTUALLY BELONGED TO HIM.
LOUDE BECAME FASCINATED WITH FURNITURE AND BEGAN CREATING PIECES FOR HIS OWN APARTMENT. WHAT STARTED AS A PERSONAL ATTEMPT TO BUILD THE ENVIRONMENT HE WANTED TO LIVE IN GRADUALLY ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF OTHERS. PEOPLE ENCOUNTERED THE PIECES, ASKED WHERE THEY CAME FROM, AND EVENTUALLY BEGAN ASKING WHETHER HE ACCEPTED COMMISSIONS.
SOMETHING THAT HAD BEGUN AS A PRIVATE ACT OF MAKING EXPANDED INTO CREATING WORK FOR OTHERS.
THE DEVELOPMENT BROUGHT AN OLD INSTINCT INTO PHYSICAL FORM. ARCHITECTURE HAD ONCE ALLOWED HIM TO IMAGINE ENVIRONMENTS ON PAPER. FURNITURE AND OBJECT MAKING ALLOWED HIM TO BEGIN CONSTRUCTING THEM.
OBJECTS WERE NO LONGER ELEMENTS HE IMAGINED WITHIN A WORLD.
THEY COULD BECOME PART OF THE WORLD ITSELF.
THE PROGRESSION REFLECTED A PATTERN THAT HAD EXISTED THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE: CURIOSITY REPEATEDLY BECOMING A MEANS OF MAKING.
THAT PATTERN NOW INFORMS STRUCTURED SILENCE, A BODY OF WORK IN WHICH INDIVIDUAL PIECES OPERATE INDEPENDENTLY WHILE ACCUMULATING INTO A LARGER PSYCHOLOGICAL AND VISUAL ENVIRONMENT.
PHOTOGRAPHY, PAINTING, SCULPTURE, OBJECTS, AND OTHER FORMS BECOME PARTS OF A SHARED VOCABULARY RATHER THAN COMPETING DISCIPLINES.
THE IDEA DETERMINES THE FORM RATHER THAN THE MEDIUM DETERMINING THE LIMITS OF THE IDEA.
THIS PHILOSOPHY ALSO EXTENDS BACKWARD THROUGH LOUDE’S ARCHIVE. EARLIER DIGITAL WORKS AND PREVIOUS BODIES OF WORK ARE NOT SEPARATED FROM HIS CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ORIGINATED DURING ANOTHER STAGE OF HIS DEVELOPMENT. THEY REMAIN PART OF AN EVOLVING VISUAL HISTORY, CAPABLE OF BEING RECONSIDERED, REINTRODUCED, AND PLACED INTO CONVERSATION WITH WHAT HE IS CREATING NOW.
WRITING HAS BECOME ANOTHER EXTENSION OF THAT SYSTEM.
LOUDE’S FIRST BOOK, NOT FOR SALE: THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE SELF, MOVES QUESTIONS PRESENT THROUGHOUT HIS BROADER PRACTICE INTO LANGUAGE, EXAMINING IDENTITY, VALUE, OWNERSHIP, DISCIPLINE, AUTHORSHIP, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF.
RATHER THAN EXISTING APART FROM THE VISUAL WORK, THE BOOK PARTICIPATES IN THE SAME LARGER INVESTIGATION: WHO DETERMINES WHAT SOMETHING IS, WHAT IT IS WORTH, AND WHAT IT IS ALLOWED TO BECOME?
LOUDE DEVELOPED MUCH OF HIS PRACTICE OUTSIDE OF A TRADITIONAL GALLERY TRAJECTORY, ALLOWING ITS LANGUAGE TO FORM BEFORE AN ESTABLISHED EXHIBITION HISTORY COULD DETERMINE WHAT THE WORK WAS EXPECTED TO BE. WHAT MAY INITIALLY APPEAR AS MOVEMENT BETWEEN MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES INSTEAD REVEALS A CONTINUOUS PRACTICE CAPABLE OF CHANGING FORM.
THE CHILDHOOD FASCINATION WITH AUTOMOBILES BECAME AN APPRECIATION FOR DESIGNED OBJECTS. AN ADOLESCENT DISCOVERY OF PERSONAL IMAGE BECAME AN INVESTIGATION OF PERCEPTION. FASHION AND ARCHITECTURE TURNED OBSERVATION INTO MAKING. PHOTOGRAPHY GAVE HIM A WAY TO CONSTRUCT ATMOSPHERE AND LATER BECAME EVIDENCE. PAINTING BECAME EMOTIONAL TRANSLATION. MUSIC EXTENDED ATMOSPHERE INTO SOUND. ARCHITECTURE RETURNED THROUGH FURNITURE AND OBJECT MAKING, GIVING IMAGINED ENVIRONMENTS PHYSICAL FORM. WRITING BECAME ARCHITECTURE OF ANOTHER KIND.
WHAT ONCE EXISTED AS SEPARATE FASCINATIONS INCREASINGLY BECAME PARTS OF THE SAME AMBITION.
LOUDE’S PRACTICE IS THEREFORE NOT CONCERNED WITH CHOOSING BETWEEN DISCIPLINES. IT IS CONCERNED WITH WHAT BECOMES POSSIBLE WHEN THEIR BOUNDARIES ARE ALLOWED TO DISSOLVE: WHEN A PHOTOGRAPH CAN LEAD TO A PAINTING, A PAINTING CAN INFORM AN OBJECT, SOUND CAN ALTER AN ENVIRONMENT, WRITING CAN ESTABLISH A PHILOSOPHY, AND EARLIER WORK CAN RETURN WITH NEW MEANING.
THE MEDIUM CHANGES BECAUSE THE IDEA MAY REQUIRE IT.
THE INTENTION REMAINS.
NOTHING HERE EXISTS ACCIDENTALLY.