Synopses & Reviews
In the mid-1980s, Robert Rauschenberg's creative attentions turned toward the visual and plastic properties of junk metal when he began to assemble found metal objects and screenprint his photographic images onto aluminum, bronze, brass and copper. His first body of work in this vein was Gluts, a series begun in 1986 and continued intermittently until 1995, in which ornate metalwork seemingly derived from a bedpost might attach to a slice of mesh wire, or twisted petals of yellow metal might sprout from the remains of an eviscerated toaster. Asked to comment on his novel use of the word gluts, Rauschenberg said, It's a time of glut. Greed is rampant... I simply want to present people with their ruins... I think of the Gluts as souvenirs without nostalgia. Published to accompany the Peggy Guggenheim Collection's exhibition Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts (the first show to focus on Rauschenberg's sculpture since 1995), this fully illustrated catalogue features a selection of approximately 40 sculptures drawn from the holdings of institutions and private collections in the United States and abroad. It includes a reassessment of Rauschenberg's work as a sculptor by author and painter Mimi Thompson, an essay by Trisha Brown, an illustrated exhibition history, a preface by Philip Rylands and introduction by Susan Davidson that focuses on Rauschenberg's relationship to the Guggenheim and the artist's engagement with Venice in particular.
Synopsis
Featuring 42 of Robert Rauschenberg's pioneering Transfer Drawings of the 1960s, this book reproduces almost half of the works that were made in that tumultuous decade. The historical watershed of 1968 is especially well represented by 23 drawings, at least 15 of which were shown in the influential Ileana Sonnabend Gallery, Paris, in October of that year. They have never been seen before now in the U.S. The imagery in these drawings suggests a growing political consciousness, first engaging the civil rights movement, followed by the Vietnam War and other events of the stormy era. This small but exquisite volume is an absorbing sequel to the 2005-06 international touring exhibition of Rauschenberg's Combines, taking up where those multi-media constructions left off. Among the featured works are Mainspring (1965), the largest of the transfer drawings, and selections from the artist's own collection.
Synopsis
Edited by Susan Davidson. Text by Trisha Brown, Mimi Thompson. Preface by Philip Rylands.