Jeffrey Deitch opens an exhibition of works by Robert Longo
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, October 12, 2024


Jeffrey Deitch opens an exhibition of works by Robert Longo
Robert Longo, Death Star 2018, 2018. Approximately 40,000 inert bullets (brass, copper, lead) welded to the frame; steel Ibeams; steel chain, 254 1/2 x 254 1/2 x 144 inches (overall) 646.4 x 646.4 x 365.8 cm. 77 inches (sphere diameter) 195.6 cm. 1/1 AP. Courtesy of the artist and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles.



LOS ANGELES, CA.- Asked if his work was “preaching to the choir,” Robert Longo responded, “It is not preaching to the choir – it is screaming at the choir.”

“My work is like ripping chunks of the world out and offering to the viewer to contemplate,” he continued. Longo’s work has always had a political edge, especially during recent years. He strives to find a pictorial balance between nature and politics, the social and the personal, “marrying a sense of humanity with a sense of justice” while exposing the “politics of power, futility and aggression.” He has created a personal fusion of Pop and Conceptual art, heightened by a sense of political urgency. His title for this exhibition, Storm of Hope, expresses his wish for a better future on the other side of the storm.

Longo’s work navigates the world we live in and how we see it. Countering the “image storm” that surrounds us, he creates iconic and provocative works based on the daily flow of images across our screens. He envisions his large-scale drawings as monuments, securing a sense of permanence that transcends the flood of transitory imagery. Longo cites his version of the Cassandra curse: “artists can see the future, but will people listen?”




Explaining the genesis of why his massive drawings are displayed behind glass, Longo recounts, “I grew up with TV, black and white. All the images I saw in the formative time in my life were always behind glass. Now, we’re inundated with images behind glass, on various screens.” His drawings are created with charcoal, an ancient material, using one of the oldest art mediums to create hyperreal contemporary images. The drawings are so meticulously crafted that they are sometimes mistaken for photography. The word “drawing,” however, is a bit of a misnomer: Longo’s charcoal on mounted paper works measure upwards of 11 feet tall and 38 feet long, on par with the scale of history paintings. Each image is actually the product of months of labor-intensive work, based on source images that have been highly altered to create an image that becomes a memory, expressing something over and beyond itself. Longo likes the way that the medium of charcoal slows things down. He appreciates the irony of creating monumental images out of dust.

One of the central presentations in the exhibition is Longo’s epic three-part work showing the three pillars of the US government: the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the White House. His image of the Capitol creates the illusion of the building moving toward the viewer. The Supreme Court is rendered in front of a stormy sky. The building is splitting like Gordon Matta-Clark’s house and appears to be decaying. The White House, meanwhile, is pictured from a sinkhole in the front lawn, an ominous gnarly forest growing around it.

The exhibition will also feature one of Longo’s best known and most notorious works: Death Star, made from 40,000 30 caliber bullets, the type used in AR-10 assault rifles. The number of bullets corresponds to the number of gun deaths in the United States in 2017, the year Longo began fabricating the work. He used an algorithm to place the bullets in a random arrangement, representing chaos in its avoidance of a set pattern.

The exhibition also presents a powerful survey of works from Longo’s three most recent series–Gang of Cosmos, The Destroyer Cycle, and Fugitive Images–with works ranging from his black and white translation of Jackson Pollock’s Convergence to an image of the “wall of moms” during the 2020 Portland protests. In each of these bodies of works, Longo extends the tradition of artistic political engagement into the present.

Storm of Hope is Robert Longo’s first exhibition in Los Angeles since his 2008 show at Margo Leavin Gallery. His work was the subject of a large survey exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1989. Jeffrey Deitch has been involved with Robert Longo’s work since 1979. He was the model for one of Longo’s influential Men in the Cities triptychs from 1980.










Today's News

November 21, 2020

LaiSun Keane opens an exhibition featuring contemporary Japanese women artists

Exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao examines the career of Vasily Kandinsky

$30.5 million Impressionist & Modern Art Day sale smashes record for an online auction at Sotheby's

Exhibition explores Henri Matisse's ongoing relationship with black and white

Jeffrey Deitch opens an exhibition of works by Robert Longo

Sprüth Magers opens an exhibition of ten large-scale photographs by Cindy Sherman

Whitney presents exhibition of Kamoinge Workshop photographers

UN culture agency pitches heritage mission to Nagorno-Karabakh

Romare Bearden collages lead African American Art at Swann

Exhibition highlights more than 200 years of German art

Rare, sealed 'Super Mario Bros. 3' variant breaks record for world's most expensive video game

Exhibition of new work by Arturo Herrera opens at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Memorabilia from Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and more to go up for auction

New from powerHouse Books: The Boys Photographs and Text by Rick Schatzberg

Tampa Museum of Art highlights African American artists in "Living Color"

Amon Carter Museum acquires Wendy Red Star's "Accession"

Abolitionist is earliest Black Londoner honored with blue plaque

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle auction spotlights 36 years of 'turtle power'

Jan Myrdal, Swedish author and provocateur, dies at 93

Michel Comte's Erosion I & II on view at Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne

MOCA GA opens Working Artist Project Fellow Ariel Dannielle's solo exhibition 'It Started So Simple'

Solo show of works by Lisa Brice opens at GEM, museum of contemporary art

Exhibition celebrates the 98th birthday of renowned photographer Tony Vaccaro

Special installation offers intimate look at museum's popular treasure from Stettheimer Family

Utility Defined: How Can A Baby Change Table Help You?

Wheel and Tire Package

Arts and crafts: from hobby to career

Black Friday with CanvasWAY

Tips to choose the best online flower delivery service

What are the advantages of gaming?

How To Choose The Best Projector For Artists

Toto for picking your favorite sport

How to choose the best plumber there is?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful