Robert Rauschenberg at Gemini G.E.L.: Selected Works 1969-2000

Gemini G.E.L. is pleased to present our summer exhibition, Robert Rauschenberg at Gemini G.E.L.: Selected Works 1969‑2000. Featuring a range of prints, sculptures, and unique multiples from several series, the exhibition is on view from July 26.

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission, the show includes three works from Rauschenberg’s Stoned Moon Series, a series of 33 lithographs created in 1969. Inspired by the artist’s experience watching the Apollo 11 launch in Cape Canaveral, the works convey his interest in technological innovation, specifically his associations between NASA and the collaborative process of printmaking, as well as the connection between the surface of the moon and the surface of lithography stones. The Stoned Moon Series reflects his reaction to not only the space program and the potential impact of human activity on the moon, but also to the changing environs of Cape Canaveral, where the massive machinery and buildings of the space center were erected on the sparse coastal landscape.

The Horsefeathers Thirteen series (1972-76) demonstrates the experimental aspect of the artist’s practice, using the print medium to survey different ways of seeing and unearth new narratives by combining images. Images of animals, fruits, and people, all derived from magazines and newspapers, are juxtaposed with abstract shapes to elicit free association in an exciting and random clash of distinct visual elements.

Also included in the exhibition are several works that came about as a result of the artist’s travels in conjunction with the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI). Established in 1984, ROCI was a global traveling exhibition of over 200 works by the artist, based on his visits and partnerships with artists and artisans throughout the world. The eight-year tour included exhibitions in Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, The People’s Republic of China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, the former USSR, Berlin, Malaysia, and Washington, DC. The 7 Characters series of gold-leaf-edged unique collages were created and conceived during Rauschenberg’s 1982 journey with Gemini staff to the city of Jingxian, in the Anhui Province of the People's Republic of China, to see the Xuan Paper Mill. Rauschenberg visited museums and archeological sites in cities and villages throughout the country, in addition to meeting with art students in Beijing, before spending two weeks at the paper mill. The 7 Characters series was entirely conceived and fabricated in China: collage elements consisting of posters from Shanghai, local fabric swatches, and silk ribbons were arranged in unique configurations on a handmade sheet of Xuan paper and a layer of silk. Seven Chinese characters, selected by the artist for their meaning and aesthetic form, were carved into cherry wood, cast in paper and adhered to each piece: Individual, Change, Howl, Light, Trunk, Red Heart, and Truth, and a randomly selected, two-sided medallion, cut from authentic silk wedding bed covers, was suspended from each collage.

Samarkand Stitches were inspired by a trip to Uzbekistan later in the 1980s. Ikat silk fabrics imported from Samarkand were sewn together with domestic fabrics that had been screenprinted with photographic images taken by the artist during his travels to the former Soviet Union. The random ink colors and the assortment of Ikat fabrics are the unique elements among the individually assembled textiles, and the pieces are backed with assemblages of domestic fabrics. In 1999, Rauschenberg spent time in Morocco, exploring local communities and taking photographs that formed the basis for the multi-color screenprints in his Marrakitch series. The series exemplifies Rauschenberg’s interest in connecting with other cultures and the subsequent material associations made in his artistic practice, a common thread through his entire body of work.