Untitled (Men in the Cities: Ellen)

Longo’s images depict violent physicality and psychological angst motivated by an undefined source left to the viewer’s speculation. His most famous series, Men in the Cities, consists of large charcoal and graphite drawings of well-dressed men and women between moments of confinement and release. These works have become metaphors for the success and money-driven “yuppie culture” of the 1980s. Untitled (Men in the Cities: Ellen), 1981, shows a young woman in such a moment of ambiguity, with a full and purposeful gesture yet unmoored to any definition beyond her stylish heels, proper blouse, and designer skirt.