Columbia University, New York, Neo-Dada and Pop Art, Fall 2023

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation collaborated with Branden W. Joseph, Frank Gallipoli Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art in the department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. In conjunction with Joseph's lecture course on Neo Dada and Pop Art, he curated an installation of Robert Rauschenberg's artworks at the Foundation's headquarters. Students visited the installation with Joseph during the semester and had the opportunity to research individual artworks in person and in the Foundation's archives. 

Joseph's installation, Robert Rauschenberg: Disparate Visual Facts, was installed at the Foundation from October 16, 2023–January 5, 2024.

Joseph writes: Titled after Robert Rauschenberg’s own characterization of his practice in 1963, Disparate Visual Facts highlights formal motifs and devices that develop, subtly but recursively, across the artist’s oeuvre from the early 1950s to the late 1990s. In addition to featuring collage, assemblage, sculpture, photography, painting, and textiles—including Venetians (1972–73), Hoarfrosts (1974–76), Jammers (1975–76), and Spreads (1975–83)—the exhibition presents Rauschenberg’s 1965 performance Map Room II via archival materials, props, and newly restored and digitized rehearsal footage.

Installation photograph of Robert Rauschenberg: Disparate Visual Facts, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York, Oct. 16, 2023–Jan. 5, 2024. Photo: Ron Amstutz

Installation photograph of Robert Rauschenberg: Disparate Visual Facts, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York, Oct. 16, 2023–Jan. 5, 2024. Photo: Ron Amstutz