By Robert Rauschenberg
Retroactive 1, 1964. Oil and silkscreen ink on canvas. Link:http://edu.warhol.org/app_rauschenberg.html
Robert Rauschenberg on the 22nd October 1925 in Texas and died on the 12th May 2008 in Florida. In 1950, he married a woman called Susan Weil and they only had one child together before they divorced in 1953. He died due to heart failure after deciding to go off life support.
In 1951, he held a one man exhibition at the Betty Parson's Gallery and he held a second one in 1954 at the Charles Egan Gallery. A year later, at the same gallery, he showed one of his famous works, Bed. He used mixed media, such as paint, photos and any object that he could get.
Retroactive 1 is a piece which uses photos. It contains images of space and John. F. Kennedy who is conducting a speech. There are various different colours used on the piece, blue and green being the main ones. The photos are not arranged in a particular way, therefore it was not designed to be looked at in a certain manner. However, many people would possibly be drawn to the insert of Kennedy’s hand, a symbol of leadership. This would why the image was repeated.
Rauschenberg used mainly primary colours on this piece, with blue being most prominent on the canvas. He also used the secondary colours of green and orange on the piece. I think this was done to highlight the important parts of the collage e.g. President Kennedy and the spaceman.
The piece creates a visual commentary on a media dominant world that is struggling to come to grips with a television era. The use of President Kennedy symbolises progress and promise but this was done after the assassination, making the image ironic. Also the image of the space man with a parachute is symbolic because President Kennedy said made a pledge that man would land on the moon within the next ten years after he said it. The image serves as a reminder of America's sadness due to the loss of a great leader.
No comments:
Post a Comment