Lugano
Richard Long was born in 1945 in Bristol, England, where he still lives and works. He studied at the College of Art at the University of the West of England and later at St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London.
He is widely recognized as a central figure in the emergence of Land Art. Long gained international acclaim in the 1970s with works created during long walks through rural and remote landscapes, ranging from the British countryside to the vast plains of Canada, Mongolia, and Bolivia. Driven by a deep respect for nature and a sensitivity to form, Long never significantly alters the landscapes he moves through. Instead, he marks the ground or subtly adjusts natural features, such as turning over stones or tracing simple lines.
Although he primarily works outdoors, he occasionally brings nature into the gallery by using materials like mud, stones, and water. To convey the experience of his journeys, Long employs various forms of presentation—often combined—such as installations, photographs, texts, and maps.
Since 1981, his work has also engaged with the language of painting by applying very liquid mud directly onto walls by hand in formal configurations, blending the primal act of hand-marking with a refined visual order. Nearly forty years later, his practice continues to explore the tension between ephemeral, site-specific actions and their translation into the public space of museums, books, and exhibitions through sculptures, text works, and photographic records.
A consistent element of his work is the use of archetypal forms—circles, lines, crosses, and spirals—which bring visual and symbolic structure to raw natural materials. Long has always emphasized that the meaning of his work lies in the visibility of the action itself, rather than in the depiction of a specific landscape. His compositions offer an ongoing reflection on the relationship between humanity and nature.
Richard Long’s works are part of permanent collections in the United Kingdom, including the Tate and the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, as well as in various museums across the United States, Switzerland, and Australia.
