Robischon Gallery presents “The Lotus Series,” the final print series from the singular American artist Robert Rauschenberg. Created just prior to his death in 2008 in collaboration with master printer Bill Goldston of Universal Limited Art Editions, “The Lotus Series” pigment prints reference the artist’s trips taken to China in 1982 and 1985. Rauschenberg discovered time-honored materials at the ancient Xuan Paper Mill in Jingxian which inspired seventy unique collage and paper works based on Japanese symbols. Further inspiration prompted the artist to organize an exhibition, the “Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange” (ROIC), that served as a world-wide artistic and cultural exchange to enhance cross-cultural understanding. The ROIC, exhibition at the National Museum in Beijing, proved inspirational for not only the artist, but was pivotal for the emerging Chinese contemporary art movement which was only just beginning to embrace the idea of contemporary art and its radical, new art forms. The artist’s photographs from China became the foundation for “The Lotus Series” over two decades later.

Surrounded by Rauschenberg-designed frames, each print bears a photogravure of a stone lotus blossom, a symbol of rebirth, in relationship to everyday Chinese objects and images such as a crowded train, waterways or traditional architecture combined with Chinese forms of iconic Rauschenberg symbols like rubber tires, bicycles, and a carved ram’s head reminiscent of Rauschenberg’s Monogram. With these images, the artist extends his use of unconventional source materials that initially seem to have little apparent relationship to each other, but are intentionally juxtaposed to create an intriguing narrative that simultaneously revitalizes pedestrian objects while illuminating for the viewer the demands of consumer society. “Combines,” the descriptive moniker given to his process of discovering and forming combinations of objects within a narrative context, remained at the core of Rauschenberg’s oeuvre across the decades.

Known as one of the seminal artists responsible for reshaping the artistic discourse away from the dominance of pure abstraction during 1950s to the Pop era of the 1960s, Rauschenberg’s pioneering use of photography in his paintings and sculptural combines created awareness between subject matter and process. Additionally, for his groundbreaking prints, the reproduction process became as important as the art-object itself – at times experimenting with printing on aluminum, Plexiglas discs, clothing and other surfaces. As the final body of work by this American icon, “The Lotus Series” remarkably speaks to so many important aspects of Rauschenberg’s art; his sense of wonder, collaboration and a desire to seek out the unpredictable as a bridge into the unknown. (Resume available upon request.)

This exhibition was made possible through the talent and generosity of Bill Goldston, ULAE master printer and friend to Robert Rauschenberg for over forty years. Robischon Gallery also wishes to thank the Denver Art Museum’s Asian Arts Association President Carol Betson Goldstein in special association with the chair of the Education Committee, Tom Whitten.