Features from Currents

Robert Rauschenberg was fascinated by incorporating everyday materials into his art, from family photographs hiding under layers of paint to street litter collaged on canvas. Rauschenberg’s 1970 series, “Features from Currents” and “Surface Series from Currents,” assemble clipped newspaper headlines and photojournalism to question the place of news media in the realm of fine art. Rauschenberg manipulated his clippings with new silkscreen printing technology—superimposing, reversing, and warping them under a layer of moire to render the text indecipherable. “Features from Currents” contains 26 works numbered 55 through 80, while “Surface Series from Currents” has 18 works numbered 37 through 54. Both series were produced in an edition of 50, with each silkscreen print hand-signed by the artist.