Robert Longo

LONGO HAS BEEN REPRESENTED BY METRO PICTURES—THE FIRST NEW YORK COMMERCIAL GALLERY TO ESTABLISH A MARKET FOR THE PICTURES GENERATION ARTISTS—SINCE THEY OPENED IN 1980. HE PRESENTED THE MEN IN THE CITIES DRAWINGS THAT WERE TO ESTABLISH HIS NAME AT HIS FIRST SOLO SHOW AT METRO, IN 1981. THE GALLERY THEN PREMIERED HIS COMBINES—WALL-BASED WORKS THAT WERE PART SCULPTURE, PART RELIEF, PART PAINTING—IN 1984, WHICH USED SERGEI EISENSTEIN’S THEORY OF MONTAGE TO JUXTAPOSE CONFLICTING IMAGERY AND FORMS EXPLORING THE WORKINGS OF REASON, INTUITION, FANTASY, AND POWER; CONCEPTS THAT CONTINUE TO BE IMPORTANT TO LONGO’S PRACTICE. THROUGHOUT THE 1980S HE ALSO REMAINED INVOLVED IN UNDERGROUND CULTURE, INITIATING PERFORMANCES, PLAYING IN AND COLLABORATING WITH ROCK BANDS, CONTRIBUTING TO ALTERNATIVE MAGAZINES, PROGRAMMING NON-PROFIT SPACES SUCH AS THE KITCHEN IN NEW YORK, AND DESIGNING STAGE SETS. ALSO PURSUING HIS ONGOING FASCINATION WITH THE MOVING IMAGE, IN 1986 HE PRODUCED HIS FIRST COMMERCIAL MUSIC VIDEOS, AND DIRECTED HIS FIRST FILM THE FOLLOWING YEAR.