Robert Rauschenberg and “5 from Louisiana”
This installation highlights NOMA’s recent acquisition of Melic Meeting (Spread), 1979,
by Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), one of most influential artists of the twentieth
century. This acquisition was motivated in part by Rauschenberg’s ties to Louisiana and
to NOMA. Rauschenberg was born in Port Arthur, Texas, but he considered Louisiana
his home. His family relocated to Lafayette in 1945, and continues to reside there today.
In 1977 Rauschenberg participated in the NOMA exhibition Five from Louisiana as one
of five Louisiana artists who had gained international prominence. These artists
included Lynda Benglis, Tina Girouard, Richard Landry, and Keith Sonnier. At the time
arts advocate Luba Glade praised Five from Louisiana saying, “It answers a loud ‘Yes’ to
the ever present question of whether creative people from the land of magnolias, red
beans, and gumbo can make it to center stage in the great big art world…”
In Five from Louisiana Rauschenberg exhibited examples from his Hoarfrost series,
and debuted a large artwork from his Spread series. This is the first time since 1977 that
these two series have been shown together at NOMA, along with artworks by the other
Louisiana artists from that seminal exhibition.
The acquisition of Melic Meeting was made possible thanks to generous support from
the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, in honor of Rauschenberg’s mother Dora, who
was from New Orleans, and the Hells Foundation.
Lynda Benglis (American, born 1941)
Vulpecula, 1984, Bronze, wire mesh, zinc, nickel
The Muriel Bultman Francis Collection, 86.149
Vulpecula is an example of Lynda Benglis’s tied and knotted sculptures, a body of work
she began creating in the early 1970s. During the 1960s and 1970s Benglis became
known
for her use of unconventional materials in sculpture, including poured latex,
polyurethane foam, and beeswax. In Five from Louisiana Benglis presented knotted
pieces made from cotton bunting and plaster that had been sprayed with a metallic
coating. Within a few years her “knots” evolved into sheets of bronze wire mesh, which
Benglis then pleated, twisted, and tied into elaborate configurations, as seen in
Vulpecula. Once her shapes were finalized, she sprayed the wire mesh with zinc, which
acted as a bonding agent for subsequent coats of metal, in this case, nickel. The resulting
sculptures simultaneously seem feminine (appearing like the pleated skirts of a woman),
and masculine (due to their hard metal construction and pointed edges). Named after a
star constellation, the artwork’s title means “little fox” in Latin. Viewers might notice a
likeness to a fox’s pointed ears and tail in the sculpture’s pleated ends.
Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925–2008)
Melic Meeting (Spread), 1979, Solvent transfer, acrylic, fabric and collage on wood
panels with mirror
Gift of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, partial gift in honor of Dora
Rauschenberg, and Museum purchase with funds provided by the Helis Foundation,
2013.20
The word “Melic” comes from Greek lyric poetry; it implies a verse intended to be sung.
This sentiment complements the complex and poetic layering of images in Melic
Meeting, an artwork from Rauschenberg’s “Spread” series. The piece was made in
Captiva, Florida, where Rauschenberg moved in 1970 following a studio fire in New
York. It exhibits the typically pastel, beach-like colors that Rauschenberg encountered
around his new home.
Made of four panels, the work seems to expand horizontally, “spreading” out like a
landscape. Whereas Rauschenberg’s earlier “combine” pieces were known for their
intense accumulation
of objects, Melic Meeting is largely two-dimensional, displaying
many layers of fabric and images transferred from newspapers and magazines.
Rauschenberg used a careful selection of objects, such as a comb, mirrors, a piece of
driftwood, and a shirt, as well as a large area of unpainted canvas to create alternating
areas of accent and open space.
Richard Landry (American, born 1938)
1,2,3,4, 1969
Black and white with strobe light and clapping hands Performed by
Richard Landry and Tina Girouard
Courtesy of the artist
As a musician, composer, photographer, and video artist,
Richard “Dickie” Landry has
operated across many mediums, and is closely associated with the experimental music
and art scene of New York during the 1970s. He was a founding member of the Philip
Glass Ensemble and participated in the inaugural performance of Philip Glass’s opera
Einstein on the Beach in 1976.
When Landry was invited to participate in the NOMA exhibition Five from Louisiana,
he performed a solo saxophone concert of his “quadrophonic delay” technique and
exhibited several videos, including 1,2,3,4. In an interview with Philip Glass, Landry
explains:
In the early tapes the image was always based on the idea of looking at one’s hands, or
the source of where information comes from, the sound. When I was studying flute, or
clarinet, or saxophone, the teachers would say, ‘Stand in front of the mirror and look
at your hands, or look at your lips, because that’s how you correct yourself....I always
saw 1,2,3,4 as a photographic piece, almost like a flip book.
Keith Sonnier (American, born 1941)
Scraper, 1989, Neon, glass, aluminum
Museum purchase, P. Roussel Norman Fund, 2010.214
A native of Grand Mamou, Louisiana, Keith Sonnier rose to prominence in New York in
the late 1960s, and is associated with post-minimalist sculptors such as Eva Hesse,
Bruce Nauman, and Barry Le Va. Beginning in 1968, Sonnier began creating sculptures
using neon light fixtures, a medium
he continues to develop today. Describing his work in Five from Louisiana, Sonnier told
his former art professor Calvin Harlan (who also taught Richard Landry and Tina
Girouard at University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette):
Those fluorescent light and glass pieces remind me a lot of driving in Louisiana.
Coming back late at night, and in the distance seeing a club somewhere through the
fog. About the most ‘religious’ experience I’ve ever had in Louisiana: coming back from
a dance late at night and driving over this flat land and, all of a sudden, seeing these
waves of lights going up and down in this thick fog.
Tina Girouard (American, born 1946)
Eve and Adam, 1991, Hand‐ stiched sequins on cotton
Gift of Sandra and Gerald Fineberg, 2000.507
Like Keith Sonnier and Richard Landry, Tina Girouard was an important participant in
the New York Soho art scene during the 1960s and early 1970s. She was an early founder
of alternative art spaces including 112 Greene Street, the artist- run restaurant FOOD
(which she co-founded with Gordon Matta-Clark and Carol Gooden), PS1, and Creative
Time. Returning to Louisiana in 1984, Girouard visited Haiti in 1990 in search of sequin
tapestry artists who could assist her with a project for the city of Lafayette. In the
process she met the Haitian sequin artist Antoine Oleyant, and in 1991, established a
auxiliary studio in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her artwork Eve and Adam is directly inspired
by the Haitian tradition of sequined Vodou flags.