The Happy Apocalypse [Original Artwork for Padre Pio Liturgical Hall] 1999

Robert Rauschenberg made this original artwork for the Padre Pio Liturgical Hall, and when you look at it, I wonder if he was thinking about the conversations between art and life, between the sacred and the everyday. See how he’s layered images from all over the place? They are almost like memories bumping up against each other. A globe sits in the middle, surrounded by all kinds of images, as if he’s trying to hold the whole world in one frame. I can almost feel Rauschenberg’s curiosity as he plays with the composition and all the different visual textures and how the images dissolve into one another. He was always pushing boundaries, and this piece feels like he’s inviting us to think about how we see, what we value, and how everything is connected in a grand, messy, beautiful way.