Robert Longo

This catalogue focuses on Robert Longo’s recent series of charcoal drawings of well-known Abstract Expressionist paintings. Rendered in charcoal, the original paintings are immediately recognizable, but it is the overlooked or imperceptible details of the complex surface, the tactility of the paint, the brushstrokes and the pattern of the canvas that Longo has made visible in his translation from color to black-and-white, paint to charcoal. Exploring his ambivalence toward painting, Longo's drawings address the historical magnitude of Abstract Expressionism in art historical and cultural contexts.