Robert Longo Albertina Museum

Robert Longo is known for his monumental photorealistic images: powerful, dynamic charcoal drawings whose virtuoso technique and visually impactful subject matter leave viewers spellbound. He models such works on photographs that apprehend dramatic situations at their climaxes. The artist’s concern here is to shed light on power—in nature, in politics, and in history. Longo makes use of... Show more

Robert Longo is known for his monumental photorealistic images: powerful, dynamic charcoal drawings whose virtuoso technique and visually impactful subject matter leave viewers spellbound. He models such works on photographs that apprehend dramatic situations at their climaxes. The artist’s concern here is to shed light on power—in nature, in politics, and in history. Longo makes use of images already published thousands of times that have become part of our popular culture, often even part of our collective memory. He isolates and reduces his selected motifs with an eye to heightening their visual impact. Thanks to his employment of magnification as well as greatly intensified light/dark contrasts, it is gigantic, heretofore unseen images of a theatrical quality that ultimately confront us.