Robert Rauschenberk and abstract expressionism

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Robert Rauschenberk and abstract expressionism
Robert Rauschenberk was a renowned artist who became a prominent figure in the 1950s and was famously known for his Combines art work. This form of artistry involved employment of nontraditional objects and materials to come up with innovative combinations. It was a form of assemblage art which made use of large physical objects in addition to the normal art painting depicting a form of collage. His focus was on the realities of life and this new approach to art opened opportunities for future artists in the modern art world. His works depict a form of transition from Abstract Expressionism and as such categorized as a form of Pop art which combined paintings and objects redefining contemporary art. Abstract Expressionist art genre on the other hand was a representation of abstractions which focused on the psychological and sensual objects which avoided representation of reality. Majority of artists of this genre relied on abstract art as a form of communication of their philosophical and spiritual beliefs. They made use of line, color and abstract shapes to express their feelings.
Rauschenberg was interested in the popular American culture. As such, he transformed the Abstract Expressionists’ style and developed a new style that emphasized on collage which he expanded by incorporating objects which are three-dimensional which he named combines. This new technique contributed to modern art which incorporated creative expression. He used images from current events which he gathered from newspapers and magazines to form this collage. He used these elements to bring out an aspect of symbolism and imagery. An example of his work is his painting Retroactive. This painting depicts the image of an astronaut parachuting back to earth but ends up landing in an upturned box of forbidden fruit. He uses this painting to symbolize how in the modern world man’s evil potential has increased. He adds to this metaphor by showing what the astronaut is going back to a symbolism of an industrially polluted world.
He used different shapes, color, texture, arrangement and composition in his art works to voice out different messages. By use of these techniques, the viewer is at a position to gauge what the artist wants to illustrate in his painting. Color will symbolize feelings of anger, joy, hatred or sadness. The texture of the painting also characterizes the way the artist voices out his expression. Rauschenberg expertly uses all these traits in his works and it through this that his works bring out more the reality of the artwork that viewers appreciate and relate to in normal life.
Art can is an expression of one’s thoughts or feelings about a certain phenomenon whether it is spurred by one’s surrounding or not. Regardless, there tends to be a form of disparity between Rauschenberg’s work of art and those of Abstract Expressionism. One form of difference is in terms of purity which relates to the reality represented in the work of art. Abstract Expressionist represents a form of art that is based on the creation of pure abstractions where by canvas maintains its flat natural surface and paint too maintains its nature as being just paint. However, an impure painting depicts some form of figuration since it consists of a combination of two mediums (Greenberg, 77). This shows the difference between Rauschenberg’s style of art and the Abstract Expressionists’ in relation to the surface treatment. As seen in Rauschenberg’s Combine, there is a combination of objects and painted canvas which brings a distortion to the painting due to the inclusion of the object. However, the Abstract Expressionist art just has one medium of art depicted on the surface hence its purity.
Another distinct difference in Rauschenberg’s and the Abstract Expressionists’ art work is in the use of the picture plane. The Abstract Expressionists’ picture arts simulated vertical fields which ...