Bed 1955

Robert Rauschenberg made this artwork, titled "Bed," with paint and mixed media on a quilt and pillow. I imagine him leaning over this thing, attacking it, adding to it, and staining it. The gesture of dripping paint, like blood, tells a story of destruction but also rebirth. I think Rauschenberg, like many artists, was probably thinking about what a painting could be, what is the status of this weird, flat, rectangular object? Is it a window? Is it a mirror? Is it a record? Look closely. The paint is thick in some areas, thin in others, and pooled and runny in still others, creating all these varied textures and colors. This crazy layering of materials, from the domestic sphere of the quilt to the wild abandon of abstract expressionist gestures, shows us that artists are in an ongoing conversation, always pushing, always questioning, and always inspiring each other across time. It embraces the messiness, the ambiguity, and the uncertainty of art.