Biography:
Robert Longo was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised on suburban Long Island where as a youngster he participated in various arts activities from a very young age. Longo developed an early fascination with all forms of mass media, especially movies, television, magazines and comic books. These influences are still incorporated into the artwork that he is producing today.
Longo's works are filled with deep emotions that are both primitive and at the same time self conscious. One of the quintessential artists of the 1980's, Longo's "Men in the Cities" series portrays a group of sharply dressed businessmen writhing in various contorted positions. Longo's art training and background are very diverse. He studied at the University of Northern Texas, in Denton. Like so many other talented and creative people, Longo excelled in several different art forms. After a break from university life, Longo began studying sculpture under Leonda Finke, who encouraged the young Longo to pursue a career in the visual arts.
In 1972 Longo received a grant to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. Upon his return to New York, Longo enrolled at the State University College in Buffalo where he received a BFA in 1975. Eventually Longo moved to New York and immersed himself in the underground art scene of the seventies.
Although having studied sculpture, drawing remained Longo's favourite medium. The sculptural influence pervades his drawings and his portraits have a chiseled line that seem to give his drawings a three dimensional quality. Longo uses graphite like clay, molding it to create images like the writhing, dancing figures in his "Men in the Cities" series. The artist has been the subject of major retrospective exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1989 and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in 1990.
In order to create works such as Barbara and Ralph, Longo first projects photographs of his subjects onto paper and traces the figures in graphite, stripping away all details of the background. After he records the basic contours, his assistant, Diane Shea, continues work on the figure for about a week, filling in the details. Next, Longo goes back into the drawing, using a combination of graphite and charcoal, to provide as he says, "all the cosmetic work." At this point, he makes a number of changes in the figure. Some are subtle: just a little more definition to a shoulder, perhaps, or a darker cast to the shoes. Others are radical: a subject, who in the original photo was wearing jeans, may finally sport a pair of formal black trousers in the drawing. Longo continues to work on the drawing making numerous adjustments until, about a week later, it is completed.
Few artists have enjoyed the international visibility of Robert Longo and fewer still have generated as much thought -provoking commentary about their own art. His original art is immediately recognizable by many who have seen only few examples of it.
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