Au Courant celebrates Rauschenberg’s life and work. It illuminates the role the Twin Cities history played in the works on view in the gallery and by extension the flowering of the new American art that emerged in the 1960s and 70s.
The following was published in the Telegraph on May 13, 2008.
Robert Rauschenberg, who died on Monday aged 82, was the American artist whose long career and vast oeuvre anticipated almost every contemporary art movement from the mid-1950s to the new millennium. Arguably the most influential painter since Jackson Pollock, Rauschenberg tried to create work: “that relates to both art and life. Neither can be made. I act in the gap between the two.”
In autumn 1969, artist Robert Rauschenberg met with renowned curator John Stoller at Dayton’s Gallery 12 in Minneapolis. There they planned a major exhibition featuring a large scale print made from collages of New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis newspaper clippings. The show, Currents, opened at the Minneapolis gallery the folllowing spring. From government corruption and war to drugs and gay rights to astronomical events and the weather, the headlines in the prints give us a glimpse into our national past and a frame for how we might see the country’s situation today. This exhibition, by one of the most important American artists of the 20th century, highlights the role the Twin Cities played in its conception and dissemination.
The following was taken from an interview with John Stoller, former director of Dayton’s Gallery 12. Over its more than 10-year history, Gallery 12 developed a reputation for showing cutting-edge contemporary art. The Minneapolis Tribune called it “a major international art gallery.”
After Gallery 12 closed, Stoller opened a private gallery, John C. Stoller and Company, in downtown Minneapolis. He retired in 1994 and now lives in England with his wife.
The Weisman recently spoke with Stoller about Rauschenberg, Currents, and the Minneapolis art scene in the 1960s and 70s.
WAM: Do you think the work has a renewed or particular resonance today?
J.S.: Enormously. Look at those images! Think of things going on today–the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The conditions for certain people aren’t that different than they were in 1970-the huge gap that’s developed between the rich and the poor. When you think of the importance of the media today, the flash of images, and then you look at Currents–it’s almost like what you see on TV now. [Rauschenberg] was so ahead of his time. The work is still extremely relevant.
You will be in awe of the 54-foot long piece on loan from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The gallery space had to be modified to accommodate the large piece. And of course required the assistance of many to install.
Check it out. You may just find yourself inspired and excited to create your own collage.
Au Courant: Currents is on exhibit now through October 4.