Time Capsule 1970: Rauschenberg’s Currents

In a burst of activity in early 1970, groundbreaking American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) collaged newspaper clippings of the day, photographed the collages and ultimately silkscreened them to create three seminal print series. Considered Rauschenberg’s first expressly activist work of art, these extraordinary series powerfully evoke the escalating turbulence and concerns of the times–from violent social unrest and the ongoing war in Vietnam, to economic pessimism and political assassinations. One of these portfolios of 18 large-scale screenprints, Surface Series from Currents, will be shown in its entirety for the first time since 1970, affording a rare opportunity to reevaluate the work of one of the most important American artists of the past half century.