1990

Acrylic and fire wax on mirror polished stainless steel

72.75 x 96.75 inches (184.7 x 245.7 cm.)

Signed, numbered and dated lower edge

This work is number five from an edition of twenty-two.

Ex-collection:
The Artist
Private collection

Exhibitons:
Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange,” National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, May 12–September 2, 1991. Illustrated in color page 17.Rauschenberg x 4, Knoedler Project Space, New York, March 19–April 30, 2011

Literature:
F. Smyth, ROCI: Rauschenberg Overseas, 1991, Washington, D.C., p. 20 (another example illustrated).

Rauschenberg traveled extensively throughout his life. In the mid-1980s his collaborations with artisans and workshops abroad culminated in the establishment of the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI). Announced to the United Nations in December 1984, ROCI involved the artist making and presenting work while traveling with a team of assistants through 11 politically sensitive countries, including China, Tibet, the U.S.S.R., and East Germany, as a way to initiate cross-cultural dialogue. Some works remained in their original sites as gifts and others traveled with the ROCI team to be shared with future participants. Rauschenberg personally funded the project, which concluded in 1991 with an exhibition of over 125 works at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.