Robert Longo’s masterpieces in charcaol

New York City artist Robert Longo has been making major contributions to art, film and music since the 1970’s. In the 1980s, Longo directed several music videos, including New Order’s “Bizzare Love Triangle”, Megadeths’s “Peace Sells…” and “The One I Love” by R.E.M. Longo also created the front cover of The Replacements’ 1985 album Tim and directed the cyber-punk movie Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves and Dolph Lundgren.

The work of Longo’s that resonates most with me are his incredible charcoal drawings, which began with a series called “Men In Cities”, and were a part of a  period in the 1970’s and 1980’s dubbed “The Pictures Generation”. Several masterpieces from this collection are currently on display at the Metropolitan’s new exhibit, The Pictures Generation 1974-1984.

While impressive in their scale, realism and execution, the Longo pieces on view at the Met offer only a taste of the artist’s genius with charcoal. Below are views of Longo’s NYC studio, courtesy of the studio website. The images capture the brilliantly captivating work being produced by one of the art world’s premier members.