Meryl and Jonathan, 1988
From: Men in the Cities
Set of 2 lithographs on rag paper, each print 182 x 91 cm (72 x 36 in), each signed and numbered. Edition of 48 + X.
The edition Meryl and Jonathan is part of Robert Longo's Men in the Cities, a series of works that brought him international acclaim in the 1980s. The monumental black-and-white drawings depict men and women in formal attire, caught in dramatic poses, as if performing an ecstatic dance – yet without music. The series is based on photographs Longo took between 1976 and 1982 on the rooftop of his New York loft. Friends such as Cindy Sherman, Larry Gagosian, and Glenn Branca had to dodge swinging or thrown objects – their spontaneous movements were captured by Longo and transformed into tension-filled drawings. The figures appear to be seized by invisible forces – symbols of the inner and outer pressures of modern life.
