The National Gallery of Australia’s touring exhibition Rauschenberg & Johns: Significant Others reveals how – at the height of the Abstract expressionist movement – a new avant-garde began to materialise from the same-sex relationship between two young artists – Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
The exhibition highlights how Rauschenberg and Johns expanded on ideas developed through their private discourse, influencing each artist beyond their relationship.
During the homophobic 1950s, from their run-down New York studios, Rauschenberg and Johns began a private creative dialogue that introduced everyday signs, objects, and media into their work, collapsing the distinction between art and life.
This exhibition draws upon the National Gallery of Australia’s Kenneth Tyler Collection of prints with works by both artists produced between 1967 and 1973, and holdings of key works by their predecessors and contemporaries.
Jasper and I used to start each day by having to move out from Abstract expressionism. We were the only people who were not intoxicated with [them].”
– Robert Rauschenberg
Image: Jasper Johns, Gemini G.E.L., Bent “Blue”; from Fragments – according to what, 1971, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Purchased 1973. © Jasper Johns. VAGA/Copyright Agency.
