Robert Longo’s series “Men in the Cities,” created in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is the basis for the artistic collaboration with Bottega Veneta for the Fall-Winter 2010/2011 campaign. Longo’s iconic series depicts men and women in business attire contorted in extreme positions – a distilled graphic imagery that was so emblematic of the 80’s, in fact, that it features as set design in the movie American Psycho. Recently, the contorted and tilted silhouette has become a favorite imagery in advertising (just add earphones to the twisting body and you’ll know what we mean) but many are oblivious to the fact that it’s Longo’s series of dynamic portraits that’s being quoted. To set things straight, Bottega Veneta Creative Director Tomas Maier sought Longo out for the upcoming campaign. He joins a prestigious list of artists who have contributed to the Bottega Veneta’s advertising portfolio, such as Nan Goldin, Steven Meisel, Larry Sultan, Nick Knight and Annie Leibovitz, to name a few.
