January 19 – March 2, 2024
OFFSET: ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG
Graphicstudio at USF
In Person Viewing:
Contemporary Art Museum
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave. CAM101
Tampa, FL 33620-7360 USA
Online Viewing:
http://www.graphicstudio.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/2024_OFFSET_Rauschenberg/OFFSET_Rauschenberg.html
OFFSET: Robert Rauschenberg at USF Graphicstudio tells the story of Robert Rauschenberg’s long and fruitful collaboration with Donald J. Saff, founder of Graphicstudio in 1968, Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Art Department, and Founding Dean of the College of The Arts at the University of South Florida. Together, Rauschenberg and Saff worked on projects that had profound impacts locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. OFFSET is co-curated by USFCAM Director Margaret Miller and Research Administrator Mark Fredricks, and organized by USF Contemporary Art Museum.
Rauschenberg collaborated with Saff and the Graphicstudio team of printmakers to produce more than thirty editions of prints and sculpture multiples over three decades. This relationship would expand the method, scope, and very idea of printmaking through important series including Made in Tampa (1972-73), Crops (1973), and Airport Suite (1974). From 1984 to 1991, Saff served as Artistic Director of the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI), a global exhibition tour and cultural exchange program that involved Rauschenberg’s travel to each participating country and the development and exhibition of work inspired by his travels. Several key works related to the ROCI project are included in the exhibition, notably Chinese Summerhall (1983), a 100-foot-long photographic print from images captured on the trip to China that inspired the ROCI project.
In addition to the artist’s experimentation across mediums, Rauschenberg’s legacy is explored through the works of artists that recall his radical approach to materials, process, and concepts, including Trisha Brown, Rochelle Feinstein, Christian Marclay, Narsiso Martinez, Bosco Sodi, and Tavares Strachan.
