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Slightly OT: RIP, Robert Rauschenberg


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Robert Rauschenberg, whom some have called the "Father of Post-Modern art" died last night at age 82.

 

He has always meant a lot to me because he, like myself, was from rural South Texas. Like Janis Joplin observed, South Texas is a rough place for any serious artist, male or female, to be from: Even if you are talented, you mustn't expect a soul to realize it or lift a finger to advance your cause... you have to do it all yourself. Rauschenberg, as a young boy, used to glue patches of his mother's colorful sewing scrap-cloth to a piece of paper.... his working-class folks had no idea what value he saw in doing that.

 

He had tremendous style, vision, and took painting to whole new places, synthesizing everything that had come before him.

 

 

 

(To me, there is no doubt that the poster included with THE WHITE ALBUM--- surely you know it---- was influenced directly by Rauschenberg.)

 

RIP, RR.

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Even if you are talented, you mustn't expect a soul to realize it or lift a finger to advance your cause... you have to do it all yourself. Rauschenberg, as a young boy, used to glue patches of his mother's colorful sewing scrap-cloth to a piece of paper.... his working-class folks had no idea what value he saw in doing that.

 

That goes well beyond the wide confines (oxymoron?) of the State of Texas.

 

RIP, R.R.:cry:

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Just discovered him thanks to this posting. Kinda makes you wonder what LP, CD, and web art would still look like if not for his input.


180px-Robert_Rauschenberg%27s_untitled_%

 

Yes, you said it.

 

During the 1960's Pop Art era, other artists received much more attention by the media, Warhol especially.

 

The painting you show is from 1964, IIRC. Yet it looks like half the post-grunge CD covers from the 1990's, ha-ha.

 

He had a way of making "a complete mess" have great balance and charm and different levels of meaning. Always asserting a dialogue between what was implied and what was explicit; what was to seem "flat" and what was to have "perspective". Once you "got" his way of seeing, you could start seeing it everywhere, even in unexpected places like the hodgepodge of old paint, posters and flyers on the alley wall of an ancient city building.

 

Toward the end of his life, he was lining up transparent gels in a column, each one screened with a diferent image, and the only way you could see the "whole painting" was to bend down a little bit and see the view THROUGH all the screens. Pretty kewl.

 

Is it EXILE ON MAIN STREET that also has a Rauschenberg look to it? The kooky "cake" on the cover of LET IT BLEED also looks suspiciously Rauschenbergian. Hell, EXILE and THE WHITE ALBUM may have been DONE by Rauschenberg himself, I dunno, since he did hang out with that NYC artsy crowd that John, Yoko and Mick admired.

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Rauschenberg was one of my favorite artists of his generation. We have this piece in the living room:

 

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425470830/904/robert-rauschenberg-statue-of-liberty.html

 

It's not worth a ton of money but it is a signed-number litho.

 

I also have the Talking Heads "Speaking In Tongues" limited edition vinyl he designed. Clear vinyl album with Rauschenberg images on transparent colored discs. Mine is signed by the band. Looks like this: http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?what=R&obid=819255

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Rauschenberg was one of my favorite artists of his generation. We have this piece in the living room:


http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425470830/904/robert-rauschenberg-statue-of-liberty.html


It's not worth a ton of money but it is a signed-number litho.


I also have the Talking Heads "Speaking In Tongues" limited edition vinyl he designed. Clear vinyl album with Rauschenberg images on transparent colored discs. Mine is signed by the band. Looks like this:
http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?what=R&obid=819255

 

I have one of those, in the original shrink wrap.

 

Maybe it's worth some real money now :)

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