Robert Longo is a polymath. Throughout his career, he has moved between filmmaking, photography, music, and fine art. Drawing is his favorite medium. “I always think that drawing is a sculptural process,” he once said. “I feel like I’m carving the image out rather than painting it.” Indeed, these are far from quick sketches: Longo’s monumental charcoal works can take a year to complete. Often hyperrealistic and political, they depict scenes such as armored police attacking defenseless protesters, women in niqābs, and the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. The Louisiana focuses on this intense and visceral side of Longo’s practice. “I feel a moral imperative to preserve the images of our shared dystopic present,” he added, “with the hope that something will one day change.” —Elena Clavarino