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Rauschenberg Rocked

Posted May 16, 08 12:37 PM CDT in Arts & Living 

(Newser) – In some ways, Robert Rauschenberg lived more of the rock ’n’ roll life than his friend and collaborator David Byrne, who offers an affectionate farewell in the New York Times today. His life was just as wild and unpredictable as his work, says the Talking Heads founder. "Conversation was like one of his pieces: a crazy mishmash of images, multiple layers and references, and a spray of allusions that were simultaneously silly, profound and beautiful—he was the Neal Cassady of the art world."

And Rauschenberg, who died this week at 82, was profligate in sharing his enthusiasm for life. Being around him was "like being on some kind of ecstatic drug," says Byrne, for whom the artist designed the Grammy-winning album cover for "Speaking in Tongues." "He inspired those around him to not only think outside of the box," Byrne adds,  "but to question the box’s very existence."

Source New York Times

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"Barge" by American artist Robert Rauschenberg is displayed at "The Art in America." Rauschenberg brought new ideas to painting, collage, sculpture, graphic design, and other fields.   (AP Photo)
This photo released in New York on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 by Sotheby's Auction House shows a 1963 oil and silkscreen ink on canvas by the late Robert Rauschenberg entitled "Overdrive."   (AP Photo)
In this 1990 photo, actress and singer Liza Minnelli poses with artist Robert Rauschenberg at the Whitney Museum in New York.   (AP Photo/Ron Frehm, File)
American painter Robert RAUSCHENBERG. (PAR94643)   (Magnum Photos)
Robert Rauschenberg at an opening in 2006.   (Getty)
David Byrne in a 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo)
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