What is happening in the drawing at right? A man in a business suit twists his body dramatically. He might be trying a new dance. Or perhaps a strong wind is jolting him backward.
This work is part of a series by contemporary New York artist Robert Longo. In the series, called “Men in the Cities,” the artist depicts figures contorted into awkward positions. Longo developed the series by photographing models and dancers. Then he translated the photos into monumental drawings completed in graphite, charcoal, and ink. This example stands 8 feet tall. Longo removes all context from graphic images like this one by leaving the background white.
The artist uses the man’s arms and legs to create diagonals. Some of these lines create triangular shapes in the negative space, energizing the composition with asymmetrical spaces. Longo creates a rich contrast in his black-and-white composition. He gives it sharply defined edges, which make the man appear almost sculptural. Longo explains, “I always think that drawing is a sculptural process... I’m carving it out with erasers and tools...”