Robert Longo's Exhibition at Pace Gallery Falls Short of Expectations
Robert Longo's "The Weight of Hope" at Pace Gallery
Robert Longo, the renowned artist known for his minutely detailed and large drawings addressing forms of brutality, has a new show of drawings at Pace Gallery. The exhibition, titled "The Weight of Hope," is a revised version of an exhibition last year at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Longo's artworks in the Pace show are accompanied by explanatory wall texts, providing insights into the inspiration and meaning behind each piece. One of his latest works, "Untitled (Refugees at Mediterranean Sea, Sub-Saharan Migrants, July 25, 2017)," manipulates and exaggerates a widely circulated press photograph of migrants.
In contrast to his earlier works, such as "Men in the Cities," Longo's recent works exhibit a "grinding literalism," lacking the ambiguity present in his earlier pieces. This shift in style is evident in "Untitled (Ferguson Police, August 13, 2014)," where armored police are depicted, but the Black Lives Matter protesters who confronted them are noticeably absent.
Critics suggest that Longo would be better off sticking with his literalism than creating metaphors. The article questions the usefulness of Longo's reinterpretation of Goya's Third of May 1808, stating that it looks like any other Pictures Generation artwork that involves copying someone else's masterpiece as a statement about authorship.
However, Longo's art is positioned as an honest portrayal of how power works. His works, including those in the Pace show, tell the intended audience something they already know: Something is rotten in the state of America.
The title of the exhibition, "The Weight of Hope," is described as "thuddingly obvious." Yet, the artworks themselves, such as the new film "Untitled (Image Storm, July 4, 2024-September 9, 2025)," featuring a rapid flow of 10,000 images that pause occasionally, offer a powerful and thought-provoking commentary on current events.
One such image, of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestine protest leader detained by ICE, raises questions about the significance of the computer in Longo's film, which during the visit to the Pace show, paused on this image.
Longo's work, unlike that of his colleagues in the Pictures Generation, was warmer, weirder, and distinctly handmade. His art, with its meticulous detail and poignant commentary, continues to challenge and provoke, making "The Weight of Hope" a must-see exhibition. The show runs from September 11 to October 25, 2025, at Pace Gallery in New York.
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