Two by Robert Longo:
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And
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"Drawing when I was a kid was an escape for me, and now as an adult it's a profession. I always draw. I've always drawn. I love the line that comes from the hand, its real power. Now my favorite kinds of drawings are the sketches I make to plan the works from. They're the most personal. I got a B.F.A. in sculpture, which was the closest thing in the college catalogue to a drawing degree. I was never inclined to painting; it seemed too messy, too slow. I also have a major in art history, those are my weapons. My drawings are like sculptures, when I draw with graphite I smudge it with my fingers, move it around physically, it's like clay. Painting is painting on the surface, covering up, where drawing is putting the picture into the paper like a photograph." Robert Longo in an interview with Richard Price, Robert Longo: Men in the Cities, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, p.94-100.)
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Two by Andres Serrano:
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And
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Andres Serrano was born in New York City in 1950. He attended the Brooklyn Museum of Art School from 1967 through 1969.
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And one by David LaChapelle:
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"David LaChapelle was born in Connecticut in 1969. He trained as a fine artist at North Caroline School of the Arts before moving to New York. Upon his arrival LaChapelle enrolled at both the Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts. Not yet out of High School, he was offered his first professional job by Andy Warhol to shoot for Interview Magazine.
"LaChapelle's images, both bizarre and gorgeous, have forged a singular style that is unique, original and perfectly unmistakable. He has photographed personalities as diverse as Tupac Shakur, Madonna, Amanda Lepore, Eminem, Philip Johnson, Lance Armstrong, Pamela Anderson, Li'l Kim, Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Taylor, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, Jeff Koons, Leonardo diCaprio, Hillary Clinton, Muhammad Ali, and Britney Spears, to name just a few. Once called the Fellini of photography, LaChapelle has worked for the most prestigious international publications and has been the subject of exhibitions in both commercial galleries and leading public institutions worldwide....
"LaChapelle's work continues to be inspired by everything from art history to street culture, creating both a record and mirror of all facets of popular culture today. He is quite simply the only photographic artist currently working in the world today whose work has transcended the fashion and celebrity magazine context it was made for, and has been enshrined by the notoriously discerning and fickle contemporary art intelligentsia."
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(All quotations courtesy of artnet and its Artist Works Catalogues. The images are courtesy of Robert Longo, Andres Serrano and Yvon Lambert Gallery, David LaChapelle, and artnet and its AWC. At its AWC, artnet states: "artnet offers these catalogues free to the public as an educational resource. Simply click on an individual artist's image to begin, and check back often to browse new catalogues.")