Center Art Gallery
Spoelhof College Center
3201 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI  49546
(616) 526-6271
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
Robert Rauschenberg, Artist-Citizen:
Posters for a Better World

November 10, 2006 - January 20, 2007

From November 10 to January 20, the Center Art Gallery at Calvin College presents a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition titled, "Robert Rauschenberg, Artist-Citizen: Posters for a Better World." The exhibition features 17 posters created between 1969 and 1996 by the Texas-based artist-activist, addressing such issues as apartheid, artists' rights, Earth Day and nuclear disarmament. The University Art Gallery of California State University, Hayward, developed the exhibition and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service organized it for travel. All of the works in the exhibition are on loan from the artist.

Robert Rauschenberg believes that artists must be engaged in "determining the fate of the Earth." Born in 1925, he began in the 1960's to use printmaking as a vehicle to address contemporary social and political concerns, such as racial equality, the war in Vietnam, and environmental protection. He applied an innovative collage style to silkscreen prints, combining familiar images from popular culture and current events in radical ways. Praised for his artistic and social energy, Rauschenberg earned the title "artist-citizen" in 1976 during his critically acclaimed retrospective at the National Collection of Fine Arts (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum).

Introducing the exhibition are two extraordinary images: a poster from his 1969 Stoned Moon series, which indicates his optimism about the space program, and his famous 1970 screen print Signs , which powerfully alludes to iconic events such as the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, and the death of rock icon Janis Joplin. These early works set the stage for Rauschenberg's commitment as an artist-activist.

Also represented in the exhibition are posters he designed for the Rauschenberg Oversees Culture Interchange (ROCI - pronounced Rocky), in which he interacted with people of other countries in an attempt to enhance international understanding and worldwide peace through collaborative art-making. "I thought it would be terrible to live in this world and not know what another part of the world was like," said Rauschenberg. Mainly "sensitive" areas were involved in these works, such as Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, and USSR.

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 50 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For more information, including exhibition descriptions and tour schedules, visit www.sites.si.edu .

PROGRAMS
Friday, November 10, 7-10 p.m.
Opening Reception & Gallery Talk
Center Art Gallery

Thursday, November 16, 7 p.m.
Lecture: "Art as Dialogue: Robert Rauschenberg, Mass Culture, and the Question of Medium"
Jeff Thompson, Assistant Professor, Modern and Contemporary Art History, Western Michigan University
Science Building 110

Wednesday, January 17, 3 p.m.
Printmaking Talk & Demonstration
Brett Colley, Assistant Professor of Foundations, Grand Valley State University
Center Art Gallery

The barrier-free Center Art Gallery, located on the lower level of the Spoelhof College Center, is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday. There is no admission charge.

CONTACT
Joel Zwart, Director of Exhibitions
(616) 526-6271
jhz2@calvin.edu
www.calvin.edu/centerartgallery