Rauschenberg in China

Iconoclastic American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) shot over fifty rolls of film during his first trip to Beijing in 1982, resulting in his rare color photography work Study for Chinese Summerhall (1983). Just three years later, he became the first Western contemporary artist to exhibit in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution as part of his Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI, 1985–91). The catalogue Rauschenberg in China, published on the occasion of the artist’s exhibition at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, presents these projects alongside his The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece (1981–98), a single artwork comprised of 190 parts made over nearly two decades. The catalogue reproduces this work in full for the first time, accompanied by essays by Helen Hsu, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation curator; Philip Tinari, UCCA director; Susan Davidson and David White, exhibition co-curators; Hiroko Ikegami, Kobe University professor; and Felicia Chen, UCCA assistant curator.