Robert Rauschenberg, Holy Molley (Phantom), 1991, Silkscreen ink on anodised mirrored aluminium, 123,4 x 149,8 cm (48,625 x 59 in)
TUESDAY, 13th april - WEDNESDAY, 31st july, 2021, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac: Ely House, London
Watch curator and art historian Mark Godfrey speak about Robert Rauschenberg’s exhibition Night Shades and Phantoms.
‘As a viewer, you become a kind of a performer. You become aware of that act of viewing because the image in those works is harder to see, because your reflection is superimposed onto the panel.’ – Mark Godfrey
Robert Rauschenberg’s Night Shades and Phantoms are two series of metal paintings from 1991, composed of silk-screened photographic images and gestural strokes on aluminium supports. Made during his decade-long experimentations with metal, these paintings are characterised by their grayscale palette, which ranges from the Night Shades' painterly chiaroscuro to the Phantoms' mirrored surfaces and ethereal translucency.