The First Posthumous Robert Rauschenberg Retrospective Opens at the Tate Modern in London

The variety of Robert Rauschenberg’s output astounds, stretching from avant-garde gambits in the 1950’s, like white monochrome paintings and wily assemblages, to his pioneering silk-screen canvases in the 60’s and 70’s and more recent experiments with digital production. A retrospective at the Tate Modern, in London (December 1 through April 2, 2017), the first since the Texan artist’s death in 2008, at age 82, aims to capture his achievements in full. This zest for crossing disciplines makes him intensely relevant for today’s multitasking artists, says the museum’s director of exhibitions, Achim Borchardt-Hume, who organized the show with Leah Dickerman, of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (where it will travel in May). “He worked in dualities: almost-abstract and total-image overload; quite gunky stuff and superbeautiful materials; something done in isolation and something totally collaborative,” Borchardt-Hume says. “What hopefully will surprise people is how it all coheres.”

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