Robert Longo

Robert Aaron Long is an American artist whose work is notable for its narrative power and the emotional impact achieved as a result of the transformation of drawing into a monumental scale of paintings that reflect symbols of power, authority, and social unrest. Drawn with meticulous detail in charcoal, graphite, and ink, the monochrome Robert Longo Men in The Cities drawings of torqued figures in suits and dresses caught in suspended animation earned him widespread acclaim in the early 1980s. Robert Longo's works featured on Bidsquare remain competitively priced at its online auction.

As a leading protagonist of the “Pictures Generation,” artists who repurpose mass media images on the collective cultural psyche in their artwork, Longo was profoundly affected by the anesthetizing and seductive effects of capitalism, racial strifes, Black Lives Matter protests, the cult of history in the US as well as the migration crisis in Europe. The artist embarked on a cycle of works in a variety of media such as painting, photography, performance, sculpture, videos, and detailed charcoal drawings.

His photorealistic drawings of jumping figures, sharks,  planets, nebula, tigers, guns, sleeping children, and roses that explore the effects of living in an image-saturated culture of what he calls “absolutes”- that together represents Carl Jung's notion of the collective unconscious. Throughout his career, he has remained fascinated by the way the media represents reality and the role that artists play in explaining popular culture to contemporary audiences. Longo has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, New York, the Hall Art Foundation, Derneburg, Germany, among other institutions.

Interesting Facts about Robert Longo

• Robert Longo is known for the powerful images he produces that are often related to political, environmental, and social issues.
• Robert Longo co-founded the exhibition space Hallwalls that hosts shows and talks with different artists.