This landmark exhibition constituted the most complete survey of Robert Rauschenberg’s acclaimed Combines (1954–64), a series of wall-hung and freestanding works amalgamating elements of painting and sculpture. These early assemblages reimagine the medium of collage by incorporating three-dimensional found objects, from taxidermized animals to entire wooden chairs. Art historically, the Combines are considered an innovation on earlier modernist assemblage techniques—epitomized by Cubist, Dadaist, and Surrealist art—and an important forebear to later developments in Pop Art, Neo-Dada, Fluxus, Viennese Actionism, and Arte Povera.
Rauschenberg created one hundred and sixty two Combines during this decade, seventy of which were featured in this exhibition. Highlighted were the eleven Combines in MOCA’s permanent collection—the largest number of Combines held by a single institution anywhere—including Untitled (c. 1954, also known as Man with White Shoes or Plymouth Rock), Interview (1955), Factum I (1957), and Coca-Cola Plan (1958).
The exhibition will travel to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.
Robert Rauschenberg: Combines is organized by Paul Schimmel, Chief Curator, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.