Post on 31-Dec-2015
Trilogy from Bellini
Tracer alludes to a controversial event of the 1960s, the Vietnam war, by incorporating American symbols of patriotism and war--
army helicopters and a bald eagle. It also includes, however, an everyday street scene and a
reproduction of Peter Paul Rubens' Venus at her Toilet (c. 1613-15), a classic symbol of beauty and love. In the end,
however, we are left to construct our own narrative concerning the
"thread" that might link these images in contemporary
experience.
Rebus
Retroactive I
Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba II
Napoleon Crossing the Saint-Bernard
Bed
. "Bed," oil and graphite on quilt and mattress, deals with the role of painting in an artist's life and the mess it makes of dreams, desire and love.
Canyon
"Canyon," with a bald eagle, tells the story of Zeus as he turns into a bird to kidnap the beautiful boy, Ganymede.
Robert Rauschenberg in conversation with the legendary Tanya Grosman in her studio on Long Island outside New York:tanya: I remember when Bob erased the drawing of de Kooning ... like somebody writes and he erases it, makes a sort of collage out of it.bob: It was nothing destructive. I unwrote that drawing because I was trying to write one with the other end of the pencil that had an eraser.tanya: (dreamily) You went over it ...bob: I had plenty of erasers but I didn't have any art and I'd only figured out fifty per cent of this problem but if I did the drawing and then erased it it would go back to nothing so I had to take something that was accepted as art to use the eraser as a drawing tool. I don't think Bill de Kooning would let anybody else do it now.tanya: At the time he was fascinated.bob: Terrißed! A new generation of erasers! I was trying both at the same time to purge myself of my teaching and at the same time exercise the possibilities so I was doing monochrome no-image. It was only natural that I would use the other end of the pencil and that's not like having an idea if it's in the middle of your life and the way you're working. I mean, to have an idea I've gotten many invitations: 'Please, send me your work, that I can burn, because I understood what you meant by the erased de Kooning!'The erased de Kooning, it's like a picked ßower, and not even stolen, I asked permission, and so it wilts and the other end of my pencil was the wilter. It wasn't a gesture, it had nothing to do with destruction. I would never part with it. How much could you charge for a de Kooning drawing that took three weeks to erase by an artist who also has a reputation? In what way do you add that? That goes back to the flowers again too. If you've ever really looked into a rose that you have asked for, it lasts much longer than anything sent to you or that you're growing. I may have to raise the price!... Or erase it! said Maxime de la Falaise McKendry, who wrote down this conversation
Erased de Kooning Drawing
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Odalisque