Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HR1055 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.R. No. 1055
2	2
3	3
4	4	R E S O L U T I O N
5	5	WHEREAS, Renowned American artist Robert Rauschenberg, who
6	6	died on May 12, 2008, is being posthumously honored with a 2009
7	7	Texas Medal of Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement on April 7, 2009;
8	8	and
9	9	WHEREAS, The Texas Medal of Arts Awards, presented by the
10	10	Texas Cultural Trust Council, spotlights and celebrates the
11	11	creative excellence, exemplary talents, and outstanding
12	12	contributions by Texans in selected categories; and
13	13	WHEREAS, Born in Port Arthur on October 22, 1925, Robert
14	14	Rauschenberg was a pharmacology student at The University of Texas
15	15	at Austin before serving as a member of the U.S. Navy during World
16	16	War II; after seeing an exhibit of paintings for the first time
17	17	while stationed in San Diego, art entered his realm of possibility,
18	18	and he went on to attend the Kansas City Art Institute on the G.I.
19	19	Bill; he later studied at Academie Julian in Paris, Black Mountain
20	20	College in North Carolina, and the Art Students League in New York
21	21	City and became friends with such creative forces as musician John
22	22	Cage and dancer Merce Cunningham; and
23	23	WHEREAS, Mr. Rauschenberg's career took off during the 1950s,
24	24	and he soon developed a reputation for experimentation and
25	25	mischief; he produced three monochromatic series, Black Paintings,
26	26	White Paintings, and Red Paintings, and challenged conceptions of
27	27	beauty when he began incorporating found objects into his work;
28	28	this idea that junk could be the stuff of art eventually resulted in
29	29	what he termed "combines," works that combined aspects of painting
30	30	and sculpture, the most famous of which was titled Monogram and
31	31	consisted of a stuffed angora goat, a tire, a police barrier, the
32	32	heel of a shoe, a tennis ball, and paint; and
33	33	WHEREAS, The following decade, Mr. Rauschenberg continued to
34	34	obscure the lines between mediums, creating silk-screen prints from
35	35	magazine photographs, which he then overlapped with painted
36	36	brushstrokes; he also explored choreography, having already
37	37	designed sets and costumes for the most innovative dancers of the
38	38	day, and in 1964 he toured Europe and Asia with the Merce Cunningham
39	39	Dance Company; his status in the art world was sealed that same year
40	40	when he became the first American to win the international grand
41	41	prize at the Venice Biennale; and
42	42	WHEREAS, Drawn to collaboration and forever seeking new
43	43	combinations of material, Mr. Rauschenberg was involved in an array
44	44	of joint projects through the years; he cofounded Experiments in
45	45	Art and Technology to encourage cooperation between artists and
46	46	engineers, and he enjoyed productive relationships with several
47	47	workshops, most notably Universal Limited Art Editions, where he
48	48	created his first lithograph; and
49	49	WHEREAS, In 1984, he established the Rauschenberg Overseas
50	50	Culture Interchange, or ROCI, to promote world peace and
51	51	understanding, and over an eight-year period, he toured 10
52	52	countries, working with local artists and artisans and exhibiting
53	53	along the way; that massive undertaking ultimately generated more
54	54	than 200 works, most of which were part of an exhibition held at the
55	55	National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and
56	56	WHEREAS, Mr. Rauschenberg's famous productivity was on
57	57	display again in 1997 in a retrospective put on by the Guggenheim
58	58	Museum in New York; consisting of some 400 objects, it was the
59	59	largest exhibition in the institution's history, yet it did not
60	60	capture the full story of his life's work; he remained, for another
61	61	decade, as prolific, experimental, and avid an artist as ever, even
62	62	after suffering a stroke in 2002 that left him partially paralyzed;
63	63	and
64	64	WHEREAS, Working in what he described as "the gap between art
65	65	and life," Robert Rauschenberg profoundly shaped 20th century art
66	66	with his eclectic, multifaceted, and freewheeling style that
67	67	suggested an artist was not bound to one medium and that everyday
68	68	finds could be reconceived to exciting effect; although this icon
69	69	of American art is certainly missed, he leaves behind a legacy that
70	70	continues to resonate with audiences the world over; now,
71	71	therefore, be it
72	72	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
73	73	Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life and work of Robert
74	74	Rauschenberg on the occasion of the 2009 Texas Medal of Arts.
75	75	Deshotel
76	76	______________________________
77	77	Speaker of the House
78	78	I certify that H.R. No. 1055 was adopted by the House on April
79	79	9, 2009, by a non-record vote.
80	80	______________________________
81	81	Chief Clerk of the House