Robert Rauschenberg Shows That Greed Isn't Good

Commemorating the death of Robert Rauschenberg last year, and in conjunction with the Venice Biennale, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice presents a rare compilation of the artist’s work in metal. Rauschenberg composed these sculptures of traffic signs, metal tubes, and other colorful bits salvaged from Florida junkyards near the late artist’s home. The exhibition, Gluts, reaches us in the aftermath of the economic boom; with characteristic clairvoyance, Rauschenberg began creating these works in the 1980s, when the economy began to blossom. Commenting on the body of work, Rauschenburg said: "It's a time of glut. Greed is rampant. I'm just exposing it, trying to wake people up […] I simply want to present people with their ruins, I think of the Gluts as souvenirs without nostalgia."