Robert Longo: “Cavemen used my technique to paint. Great Sharks by Robert Longo
In the museum contemporary art"Garage" exhibition opened “Testimony”: Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo. Stills from Eisenstein's films, Goya's engravings and Longo's charcoal drawings are combined into a black and white postmodern mix. Separately at the exhibition you can see forty-three drawings by Eisenstein from the collection of the Russian state archive literature and art exhibited for the first time, as well as etchings by Francisco Goya from the collection State Museum modern history Russia. ARTANDHOUSES spoke with the famous American artist Robert Longo about how difficult it was to stand on par with the giants of art history, about the self-sufficiency of youth and his experiences in cinema.
How did the idea for the exhibition come about? What do the artists Longo, Goya and Eisenstein have in common?
Exhibition co-curator Kate Fowle heard me talk about these artists, how they inspired me and how much I admired their work. She suggested that I put our works together and make this exhibition.
I have always been interested in artists who were witnesses of their time and documented everything that happened. I think it is important that in the works of Eisenstein and Goya we see evidence of the eras in which they lived.
While working on the exhibition, you went to Russian state archives. What was the most interesting thing about working with archival materials?
The museum's amazing team gave me access to places I would never have been able to go on my own. I was amazed by the archive of literature and art, its huge halls with filing cabinets. As we walked along the endless corridors, I constantly asked the employees what was in these boxes, what was in those. They once said: “And in these boxes we have Chekhov!” I was struck by the very idea of Chekhov in a box.
You also met with leading expert on Eisenstein’s work, Naum Kleiman...
I went to Kleiman for some kind of permission. I asked what Eisenstein would think about what we were doing? Because I felt that the exhibition was quite boldly conceived. But Kleiman was very enthusiastic about the project. We can say that in a certain way he approved what we were doing. He is an amazingly lively person who speaks brilliant English, although at first he claimed that he barely spoke it.
Is it difficult for you to compare with Goya and Eisenstein? Is it difficult to stand on par with the geniuses of the past?
When Kate asked me if I wanted to participate in such an exhibition, I thought: what role would I be given? Probably auxiliary. These are real giants of art history! But, in the end, we are all artists, each lived in his own era and depicted it. It's very important to understand that this was Kate's idea, not mine. And what place I will take in history, we will find out in a hundred years.
In your interviews you often say that you steal pictures. What do you have in mind?
We live in a world oversaturated with images, and we can say that they penetrate into us. So what am I doing? I borrow "pictures" from this crazy flow of images and place them in a completely different context - art. I choose archetypal images, while deliberately slowing them down so that people can stop and think about them. We can say that all the media around us is a one-way street. We are not given a chance to react somehow. And I am trying to answer this diversity. I am looking for images that are archetypal from antiquity. I look at the works of Goya and Eisenstein, and it amazes me that I subconsciously use motifs in my work that are also found in them.
You entered art history as an artist from the Pictures Generation. What motivated you when you started borrowing images from the media? Was it a protest against modernism?
It was an attempt to resist the amount of images we were surrounded by in America. There were so many images that people lost their sense of reality. I belong to a generation that grew up watching television. TV was my babysitter. Art is a reflection of what we grew up with, what surrounded us in childhood. Do you know Anselm Kiefer? He grew up in post-war Germany, which was in ruins. And we see all this in his art. In my art we see black and white images that look like they came straight out of the TV screen that I grew up with.
What was the role of critic Douglas Crimp in organizing the legendary Pictures exhibition in 1977, in which you participated along with Sherri Levine, Jack Goldstein and others, after which you became famous?
He gathered artists. He first met me and Goldstein and realized that something interesting was happening. And he had the idea to travel around America and find artists working in the same direction. He discovered many new names. It was a gift of fate for me that such at a young age I was found by a great intellectual who wrote about my work (Douglas Crimp's article on the new generation of artists was published in an influential American magazineOctober. - E.F.). It was important that he put into words what we wanted to express. Because we were making art, but we couldn't find the words to explain what we were depicting.
You often depict apocalyptic scenes: atomic explosions, sharks with open mouths, diving fighters. What attracts you to the topic of disaster?
In art there is a whole direction of depicting disasters. For me, an example of this genre is Gericault’s painting “The Raft of the Medusa.” My paintings based on disasters are something like an attempt at disarmament. Through art I would like to get rid of the feeling of fear that these phenomena generate. Perhaps my most striking work on this topic is the work with a bullet mark, which was inspired by the events around the Charlie Hebdo magazine. On the one hand, it is very beautiful, but on the other hand, it is the embodiment of cruelty. For me, this is a way to say: “I’m not afraid of you! You can shoot at me, but I will continue to work! And you would go to hell!”
You make films, video clips, played in a musical group, and paint pictures. Who do you feel more like: a director, an artist or a musician?
An artist. This is the most free profession of all. When you make a movie, people pay money and think they can tell you what to do.
Are you not very happy with your movie experience?
I had a difficult experience filming the film. « Johnny the Mnemonic." I originally wanted to make a small black and white sci-fi film, but the producers kept interfering. In the end, it came out about 50-70 percent the way I would have liked it to be. I had a plan - for the 25th anniversary of the film, I would edit it, make it black and white, re-edit it and put it on the Internet. This would be my act of revenge on the film company!
You were part of the art and music underground of the 1970s and 80s. How do you remember those times?
As you get older, you realize that you are not entering the future, but the future is approaching you. The past is constantly changing in our minds. When I read now about the events of the 1970s and 80s, I think that everything was completely different. The past is not as rosy as it is made out to be. There were also difficulties. We were without money. I worked terrible jobs, including working as a taxi driver. And yet it was beautiful time, when music and art were closely linked. And we really wanted to create something new.
If you could go back in time to when you were young, what would you change?
I wouldn't do drugs. If I were talking to my younger self now, I would say that to expand the boundaries of consciousness, you don’t need stimulants, you need to actively work. It's easy to be young, it's much more difficult to live to old age. And be relevant to your time. The idea of destruction may seem cool when you're young, but it's not. And now I have not drunk or taken any stimulants for more than twenty years.
Robert Longo(English) Robert Longo , R. 1953) - modern American artist, known for his work in various genres.
Biography
Robert Longo born January 7, 1953 in Brooklyn (New York), USA. He studied at the University of North Texas (Denton), but dropped out. Later he studied sculpture under the guidance of Leonda Finke. In 1972 he received a grant to study at the Academy fine arts in Florence and left for Italy. After returning to the United States, he attended Buffalo State College, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1975. At the same time, he met with photographer Cindy Sherman.
In the late 70s, Robert Longo became interested in organizing performances (for example, Sound Distance of a Good Man). Such works were usually accompanied by the creation of a series of photographs and videos, which were then shown as individual works and parts of installations. At the same time, Longo played in a number of New York punk rock bands and even co-founded the Hallwalls gallery. In 1979-81 the artist also worked on the series graphic works"People in cities."
In 1987, Longo presented a series of conceptual sculptures called Object Ghosts. The works from this series are an attempt to rethink and stylize objects from science fiction films (for example, “Nostromo” - that was the name of the ship in the film Alien). A similar idea (but implemented with real props that were used on film set) can be found in the works of Dora Budor.
In 1988, Longo began work on the Black Flag series. The first work in the series was a US flag painted in graphite and visually similar to a painted wooden box. Subsequent works were sculptural images of the US flag made of bronze, each of which was accompanied by a title-signature (for example, “give us back our suffering” - “give us back our suffering”).
In the late 80s, Robert Longo also began filming short films(for example, Arena Brains - "Smart Guys in the Arena", 1987). In 1995, Longo acted as director in the science fiction film Johnny Mnemonic. The film is considered a cult film for the cyberpunk genre. Main role performed by Keanu Reeves.
In the 90s and 2000s, Robert Longo continued to create his hyper-realistic images. Works from the series Superheroes (1998) or Ophelia (2002) look like photographs or sculptures, but are ink paintings. The paintings from the series Balcony (2008-09) and The Mysteries (2009) are written in charcoal.
In 2010, Robert Longo created a series of photographs in the style of “People in Cities” for the Italian brand Bottega Veneta.
In 2016-17 At the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, the exhibition “Testimonies” was held, during which some of the works of Robert Longo were shown to the public.
Robert Longo currently lives in New York, USA. Since 1994, he has been married to German actress Barbara Sukowa. The couple has three children.
Robert Longo is sometimes called the creator of death. This New York artist covers topics in his works that other artists try to avoid.
Coal, a nuclear explosion and... sharks
Debris charcoal pencil and graphite Longo creates masterpieces that make you feel horrified - three-dimensional images of terrible tornadoes, hurricanes, nuclear explosions. But these are not the artist’s works that are recognized as the most frightening and realistic.
Robert Longo draws sharks with charcoal.
Creepy monsters with open mouths, powerful curves of shark bodies emerging from the blackness, foreshadowing the death of the jaw - all this fascinates and frightens.
Such terrifying paintings by the master are today in the most famous museum collections and private collections. For his works, Longo even received the legendary Goslar Kaiser Ring award - an alternative Oscar in modern art.
Robert Longo - artist of death
Robert Longo was born in Brooklyn in 1953. WITH early childhood the future "artist of death" was interested in art.
After Longo entered art academy in Texas, but abandoned it and entered the Buffalo College of Art, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. The shark portraitist began his career with sculpture, but then became interested in painting.
The artist’s first exhibition took place in 1980, but did not bring him much fame. The next year was marked for the artist by the beginning of a new project and growing popularity.
In addition to his works of the apocalypse in the form of an atomic mushroom, the art master is also known for his directorial work “Johnny Mnemonic.”
The shark is the artist's best friend
Robert Longo calls sharks his best models. It was their images that became a sensation in 2007 at the exhibition "PERFECT GODS" - ideal Gods. Sharks, according to Longo, are great creations.
Fans of creativity very often ask the question: why does the author create such “deadly” paintings? Why not landscapes, not portraits? The artist answers briefly: “I paint reality.”
One famous psychiatrist once suggested that Longo had obsessive-compulsive disorder or “fearful thoughts syndrome.”
Robert Longo, according to the doctor, as a result of severe psychological trauma suffered in childhood, suffers from obsessive thoughts and fears of dying from the elements or from the teeth of a huge shark.
The artist resolutely rejected these assumptions, but confirmed that as a child he actually witnessed a big car accident, when a school bus collided with a car in Brooklyn.
In addition, Robert Longo does not deny that by nature he is a pessimist and “a terrible melancholic who loves to leaf through graphic comics or watch BBC News reports of tragic explosions.”
It is also known that the artist is terrified of large amounts of water and has an incomprehensible interest in photographs of people tortured after shark attacks. That’s why the sharks in Longo’s paintings look so realistic.
There is something in common between sharks, hurricanes and nuclear explosions, the artist assures. “All of these things are unexpected, all of them are amazingly beautiful, and all of them do not bode well.
And these words are full of truth.
Robert Longo, b. January 7, 1953, New York) is an American artist who lives and works in New York.Robert Longo was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up on Long Island. As a child, he was greatly influenced by popular culture - cinema, television, magazines and comic books, which greatly shaped his artistic style.
In the late 1970s, Longo performed experimental punk music in New York rock clubs in the project "Menthol Wars" (Robert Longo's Menthol Wars). He is a co-founder of the avant-garde group X-Patsys (together with his wife Barbara Zukova, Jon Kessler, Knox Chandler, Sean Conley, Jonathan Kane and Anthony Coleman).
During the 1980s, Longo directed several music videos, including R.E.M.'s "The One I Love." , Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order and Peace Sells by Megadeth .
In 1992, the artist directed one of the episodes of the series “Tales from the Crypt” entitled “This’ll Kill Ya”. The most famous of director's works Longo - 1995 film
Robert is famous wide audience as a director cult film"Johnny Mnemonic" based on the story by the father of cyberpunk, William Gibson. But he is also an excellent artist - and opens two exhibitions in the capital at once. The “Evidence” project at Garage is dedicated to the work of three authors - Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein and Longo himself, who, as co-curator, ties together this multi-layered story. And the Triumph gallery will show works by artists from his studio.
GUSKOV: Robert, the Garage will feature Eisenstein, Goya, and your works. How did you put it all together?
LONGO (laughs): Well, that’s why museums exist, to show different things together. (Seriously.) In fact, the idea for the exhibition came from Kate Fowle, she is the curator. She knew that these two authors greatly influenced me as an artist. Kate and I talked about them more than once, she understood what was happening, and two years ago she offered me this story.
GUSKOV: What do you all have in common?
LONGO: First of all, we are all witnesses of the time in which we live or lived, and this is very important.
GUSKOV: Are you an equal participant in this story with Eisenstein and Goya?
LONGO: No, Kate gave me the opportunity to influence the exhibition. Usually artists are not included in the project much: curators simply take your works and tell you what to do. And then I came to Russia twice, studied archives and museum collections.
GUSKOV: What do you think about “Garage”?
LONGO (admiringly): This is very unusual place. I wish there was something like this in the States. What Kate Fowle and Dasha are doing in the Garage (Zhukova. — Interview), simply amazing. As for the exhibition, Eisenstein and Goya and I have one important common feature- graphic arts. Eisenstein's work is incredibly beautiful. Kate helped me get to RGALI, where his works are kept. They are very similar to storyboards, but, in principle, they are independent works.
“UNTITLED (PENTECOST)”, 2016.
GUSKOV: Eisenstein's graphics, like Goya's, are rather gloomy.
LONGO: Yes, mostly black and white. Gloominess is also a common characteristic for the three of us. That is, of course, there are other colors in Goya’s paintings, but here we are talking about his etchings. In general, it is very difficult to beg his work for an exhibition. We searched by different museums, but one of Kate’s assistants learned that the Museum of Contemporary Russian History holds a complete selection of Goya’s etchings, which was donated to the Soviet government in 1937 in honor of the anniversary of the revolution. The most wonderful thing is that it was last edition, made from original author's boards. They look so fresh as if they were made yesterday.
GUSKOV: By the way, cinema is also part of your creativity. Did Eisenstein influence you so much that you decided to make films?
LONGO: Absolutely right. I first saw his films when I was in my twenties and they blew my mind. But as an American, it was difficult for me to grasp the political implications. We didn’t really understand how it worked back then. Soviet propaganda. But putting that aspect aside, the films themselves are simply amazing.
GUSKOV: Like Eisenstein, didn’t everything go smoothly with your cinema?
LONGO: Yeah. I certainly didn't have to deal with Stalin when I made Johnny Mnemonic, but all those Hollywood assholes spoiled my blood. They tried their best to ruin the film.
GUSKOV: Damn producers!
LONGO: Can you imagine?! When I started working on the film, my friend Keanu Reeves, who starred in it, was not yet so famous. But then Speed came out and he became a superstar. And now the movie is ready, and the producers decide to make it a “summer blockbuster.” (Indignantly.) Launch it on the same weekend as the next "Batman" or " Toughie" What can I say, my budget was 25 million dollars, and these films had a hundred each. Naturally, Johnny Mnemonic was a box office failure. Moreover, than more money pump up to make a blockbuster, the worse the result. They, of course, could have fired me without any problems, but I stayed and tried to keep about 60 percent of the original idea. And yes, (pauses) I wanted the film to be in black and white.
GUSKOV: You wanted to make experimental cinema, but you were prevented. Are your hands free at the exhibition?
LONGO: Certainly. My idea is that artists record time like reporters. But here's the problem. For example, my friend has five thousand pictures on his iPhone, and this volume is hard to comprehend. Imagine: you enter a hall where Eisenstein’s films are being shown in slow motion. The cinema is no longer perceived as a single whole, but you can see how perfect each frame is. The same with Goya - he has more than 200 etchings. The audience's eyes would glaze over from so many, so we selected a few dozen that most closely matched the sentiments of me and Eisenstein. It’s the same with my works: Kate made a strict selection.
GUSKOV: A Mass culture had a strong influence on you?
LONGO: Yes. I'm 63 years old and part of the first generation to grow up with television. On top of that, I had dyslexia; I only started reading after I was thirty. Now I read a lot, but then I looked more at pictures. This is what made me who I am. In my school years Protests against the Vietnam War began. One guy I studied with died at the University of Kent in 1970, where soldiers shot students. I still remember the photo in the newspaper. My wife, the German actress Barbara Sukowa, was very scared to find out how stuck these images were in my head.
GUSKOV: How did you come to graphics?
LONGO: It is important to me that work, months of work, have been put into my works, and not just pressing a button. People don't immediately understand that this is not a photo.
GUSKOV: For Eisenstein, his drawings, like his films, were a way of therapy to cope with neuroses and phobias, and curb desires. And for you?
LONGO: I think yes. Among some peoples and tribes, shamans do similar things. I understand it this way: a person goes crazy, locks himself in his home and begins to create objects. And then he goes out and shows art to people who also suffer, and they feel better. Through art, artists heal themselves, and the byproduct is helping others. This of course sounds stupid (laughs), but it seems to me that we are modern healers.
GUSKOV: Or preachers.
LONGO: And art is my religion, I believe in it. At least people are not killed in his name.