Retroactive I 1964

Here's what Rauschenberg’s up to in Retroactive I, a mashup of screen printing and painting - a visual diary of the early 60s. I can imagine him in his studio wrestling with these images. Kennedy looms large, almost like a ghost in the machine, with a cosmonaut floating above. Down below, yellow and blue blocks jostle for space – the colors feel raw, immediate. He's layering images and gestures, almost like a collage in paint. It’s like he’s building a little stage set. The paint itself is pretty thin, almost stained into the canvas, which lets the images breathe and float. Then there are these drips, like tears or maybe just a casual flick of the wrist. Rauschenberg was always thinking about how images stick to us, how they shape what we think and feel. This piece, with its mix of personal mark-making and mass media, feels like a poignant snapshot of a moment in time. Like other artists, he teaches us to see the poetry in everyday life.