Milwaukee Art Museum Brings Internationally Acclaimed Artist Robert Longo’s Monumental, Hyperrealistic Drawings to the Midwest 

The artist’s first solo exhibition in the region in more than three decades, Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History presents work from the past 10 years of his career.

MILWAUKEE, WI—August 20, 2024—This fall, the Milwaukee Art Museum will present Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History, an exhibition that features nearly 40 monumental drawings, sculptures, and videos created by the artist over the past decade. The presentation emphasizes Longo’s hyperrealistic charcoal drawings and will be on view October 25, 2024–February 23, 2025, in the Museum’s Baker/Rowland Galleries.

“Robert Longo’s work is visually compelling in its exceptional detail and powerful in its reflection of his view of contemporary culture. In this age of constant immersion of images from advertisements to news footage, Longo’s drawings break through the visual deluge in captivating ways,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director. “We look forward to engaging our audiences with his most recent body of work, a long-overdue and distinct opportunity.”

Born in 1953 in Brooklyn, Robert Longo has long examined how media images affect people. Rising to prominence in the 1980s as a leading figure of the Pictures Generation alongside Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger, Longo continues to explore the effects of our image-saturated culture. Through his practice, he engages with how people filter, retain, and process the incredible number of images we consume on a routine basis. Today, Longo is widely known for his ambitiously scaled charcoal drawings that reflect on the construction of symbols of power and authority, including images of animals and nature as well as global conflicts and protest movements.

Though based on images from various media sources, Longo’s meticulous drawings are not exact transcriptions. Instead, he combines elements from multiple images with art historical archetypes and compositional elements in an effort to create what the artist considers “a perfect image.” Longo’s drawings result in a new understanding of the source images, one which reflects his views on the subject matter’s significance and urgency. Furthermore, through their monumental scale and technical precision, the images he depicts invite viewers to pause and spend time reflecting on the subject matter.

“Robert Longo’s ability to capture both the essence and experience of an image through his monumental charcoal drawings is unparalleled,” said Margaret Andera, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art. “His subject matter can range from the profound, to the inspiring, to the tragic, and the works resonate with a power that comes from the combination of Longo’s thorough consideration of the image and his meticulous technique.”

The Acceleration of History is the first solo presentation of Longo’s work in the Midwest in more than three decades. It presents this audience with a unique opportunity to engage with Longo’s more recent work and reflect on his response to the compelling issues of our time, such as the divisive U.S. political climate, war, and environmental crises. The exhibition prominently features Longo’s series The Destroyer Cycle, which he began in 2014, along with works from other series including Hungry Ghosts and Gang of Cosmos. Highlights from the exhibition include:

• Untitled (American Eagle 2017), 2017, depicts the sharp profile and soft feathers of a bald eagle, an emblem of the United States;
• Untitled (Kenny Britt, St. Louis Rams; Hands Up), 2016, depicts a single St. Louis Rams football player standing with his hands raised and head slightly bowed in the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture. The drawing captures the player’s stance of protest and highlights the intersection of sports and social justice following the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and subsequent protests;
• Untitled (State of the Union, Washington DC, USA, February 5, 2019), 2019, depicts former President Trump’s second State of the Union address at which many congresswomen wore white, referencing the suffragette movement. Longo draws particular attention to the more than 100 women serving in the House of Representatives of the 116th Congress;
• Untitled (Iceberg for Greta Thunberg), 2020, illustrates a tremendous wall of ice above the ocean’s surface. Serving as commentary by Longo on climate change, the drawing is based on photographs he captured during his travels to Newfoundland, Canada, where he witnessed entire sheets of ice breaking off glaciers and falling into the ocean;
• Untitled (Nascar Crash, Daytona), 2021, captures the chaotic and violent nature of a racecar crash, emphasizing the dramatic energy of the sport and serving as an allegory for society’s media consumption; and
• Untitled (The Three Graces; Donetsk, Ukraine; March 14, 2022), 2022, portrays a wedding storefront display of gowns in Donetsk, Ukraine, damaged by bullets from Russian forces. The drawing captures the stark contrast between the delicate beauty of the gowns and the harsh violence of the conflict.

Along with the monumental drawings will be Longo’s large-scale, spherical installation Death Star; The Year of 2018. Created in 2022, this captivating work is composed of 40,000 .308 caliber bullets, aluminum, steel l-beams, and chains, measuring 21 feet in diameter. The number of bullets corresponds to the number of gun-related deaths in the U.S. in 2017. The sculpture serves as a commentary by the artist on gun violence and the pervasive threat of mass shootings in contemporary society—a recurring theme in Longo’s work. The Acceleration of History will also include two of Longo’s videos and two additional sculptures.

The exhibition continues the Museum’s longstanding relationship with the contemporary artist. Its collection is home to two lithographs by Longo: Men in the Cities, Joanna (1983) and Men in the Cities, Larry (1983). One month before the exhibition opens, on September 21, the Museum will recognize Longo as the 2024 honoree at the Art:Forward Gala, an annual benefit that supports the Museum’s contemporary art program.

In addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Longo’s work has been exhibited around the world and is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Tate, London; among others. Beyond his drawings and sculpture, Longo has directed music videos like R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” (1987) and movies such as Johnny Mnemonic (1995) with Keanu Reeves. During the exhibition’s run, the Museum and Milwaukee Film will partner to screen Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White at the Oriental Theatre on November 21, at which Longo will be present and participate in a post-screening discussion.

Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History was curated by Margaret Andera, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum. A catalogue with essays written by Andera, journalist Tom Teicholz, and artist Rashid Johnson, as well as a roster of public programs, will accompany the exhibition.

Sponsors

Presenting sponsors
Chris and Jennifer Abele
Kate and Ken Muth

Supporting sponsors
Richard Buchband and Betsy Rosenblum
Anthony and Vicki Cecalupo
Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society

Contributing sponsors
Thomas Hesselbrock and Carl Spatz

The Milwaukee Art Museum extends its sincere thanks to the Visionaries.
Mark and Debbie Attanasio
Donna and Donald Baumgartner
Murph Burke
Joel and Caran Quadracci
Sue and Bud Selig
Jeff and Gail Yabuki and the Yabuki Family Foundation

Media Contact

For more information, please contact:

Cortney Heimerl / Lindsey Wurz
Milwaukee Art Museum
communications@mam.org
414-940-0490 / 414-224-3865

Image: Robert Longo (American, b. 1953), Untitled (American Eagle 2017) (detail), 2017. Charcoal on mounted paper. 70⅙ × 96 in. (177.96 × 243.84 cm). Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Collection