Star Quarters - Robert Rauschenberg

Where is it?

Concourse C

Rauschenbergʼs piece is located at the Concourse C elbow, between Gate C-3 and Wolfgang Puck.

About the Art

Rauschenberg's Star Quarters I-IV is a silk screen featuring constellations superimposed over wide-winged hawks, diving fish, a flying gymnast, an old diver, a spacecraft, an astronaut, and a motorcycle. While you're looking, your own image interacts with the party. As art critic Benjamin Genocchio of The New York Times puts it: “It is like an astrological charting of everything that popped into the artist's mind.”

The Details

Artist

Robert Rauschenberg

Date

1973

Medium

Serigraph (silk screen on mirror-coated Plexiglas)

Dimensions

4' high x 16' wide

Did you know?

Star Quarters I-IV isn't the only piece of Rauschenberg's that reflects his passion for the astronomical. It is rumored that a collaborative Minimalist piece of artwork (measuring about 3/4 inch by 1/2 inch) was smuggled onto the moon by engineers working on the Apollo 12. In addition to Rauschenberg, other artists that contributed to the Moon Museum are Andy Warhol, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, David Novros, and Forrest Myers.

About the Artist

Continually redefining modern expression in the 20th century, Robert Rauschenberg became one of the most influential American artists in history. Rauschenberg refused to embrace one form of artistic style, and he is recognized worldwide as a painter, printmaker, choreographer, stage performer, set designer and, in later years, a composer.

"Painting relates to both art and life. Neither can be made." – Robert Rauschenberg

Short Bio

While serving in the U.S. Marines in 1947, Rauschenberg became aware of his artistic aptitude at the age of 22. He later attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina and surrounded himself with likeminded, revolutionary artists such as dancer Merce Cunningham and musician John cage.

His interest in artistic representation of common objects, his passion for popular culture, and his indifference toward the angst of the Abstract Expressionists led him to uncover new and unconventional methods of painting. As an artist, he lacks a characteristic style. By 1958, at the time of his first solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, his work had transitioned from abstract painting to drawings (Erased de Kooning being one of the most controversial) to what he referred to as “combines," hybrids of painting and sculpture.

Similar Artwork

At the Airport

Fascinated by how Robert Rauschenberg printed photos onto glass panels? Then check out Linda Beaumont's piece on Concourse A to see a drastically different approach. Follow the STQRY link below to view Traveling Light.

Star Quarters - Robert Rauschenberg

Serigraph on mirror-coated Plexiglas by acclaimed artist Robert Rauschenberg.