vincent comparetto.

Robert Rauschenberg

October 22, 1925 May 12, 2008

Inspiration comes in waves but nothing was more profound in my life to when I saw Robert's work for the first time. It was like being hit by a truck, it changed my life, completely altering my concepts of art, the potential of an artist, and how an artist should interact with the world. He is highest rung on the latter I climb. I remember when my mom and I went to see his retrospective at the Gugenheim, just starting from the top and spiraling down through his immense world. The vastness of his legacy was mind boggling. The sheer lattitude and range was unlike any artist. We as artists have to remember how important innovation is and how important it is to occasionally abandon a direction just because we know where that direction goes. Robert taught us that consistency in art can quickly lead to stagnation. He always found a smaller riskier branch and climbed out onto it without fear. I remember once standing in a gallery called Rule in Denver it was loud and crowded, filled with snooty people talking to each other many of which could care less about the art on the wall. I had been standing perfectly still for quite sometime faced with a photo of Robert Rauschenberg photographed by Chuck Close. I felt closer to Robert in a way at that moment, I wanted to talk to him, Mostly I just wanted to thank him, and I wanted to take the photo home and use it much like a shrine. It was shot recently and like many of Chucks photos it seemed more in focus that anything optically possible. As if I could see the ideas churning behind Robert's honest eyes. My friend Evan was standing next to me, "you like him"? "Who Robert, yeah, he's pretty much my hero."






Robert I will miss you thanks for the education. The torch you handed me to carry is kind of big do you have anything smaller?