Robert Longo Study for X-Ray of Girl Before a Mirror 1932 (after Picasso), 2015

Robert Longo (b. 1953, New York) is known for his large-scale, hyper-realistic charcoal drawings. In Study for X-Ray of Girl Before a Mirror 1932 (after Picasso) (2015), the artist uses his characteristic chiaroscuro technique to create a monochrome homage to Picasso’s colourful Girl Before a Mirror (1932), now in the collection of the MoMA in New York. Drawing on the long-established artistic theme of a woman before her mirror, the subject extends her arms as if to embrace her reflection in an attempt to secure that which is fleeting. This longing to slow the passage of time echoes Longo’s practice, which involves a forensic examination of the source image. This allows him to internalise the subject on a molecular level and, ‘combined with the medium’s inherent intimacy, represents,’ as he describes it, ‘a sincere attempt to slow down the image, to provoke the viewer to consume its full power.’