Stacey Kramer

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

MA Project - Open Access - With Distinction

Project Type

MA Project - Curatorial Proposal

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Contemporary Art

First Advisor

Agnes Berecz

Second Advisor

Leo Krakowsky

Abstract

In 1953 Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns met through a mutual friend, thus sparking a romantic and creative partnership that would endure until late 1961. At a time when it was illegal to be in a same-sex relationship, these two artists collaborated and inspired each other, and together they changed the course of contemporary art. Breaking free of the Abstract Expressionists, they chartered an artistic path forward and beyond while working from their adjacent studios, sharing intimacies and a similar mindset.  The two artists often channeled a shared sensibility and aesthetic, developing their own symbolic language even as they avoided explicit meaning in their work. By focusing on everyday objects and “things the mind already knows”, they redirected interpretation and significance back onto the viewer. Rauschenberg and Johns fostered a unique intimate friendship and encouraged each other in their explorations within their art. This exhibition will show that the romantic and artistic partnership between the artists was not merely biographical context but a generative engine for their formal innovations. In Rauschenberg’s words, “we gave each other permission”—a phrase that captures how intimacy fostered an approach to art, encouraging each artist to experiment and challenge the boundaries between painting, object and sign. While scholars have largely mirrored the discretion exhibited by the artists in not focusing on their sexual orientation, more recent scholarship suggests that this intimate relationship may be key to understanding the signs and symbols inherent in their works, and the lasting impact their work had in shaping contemporary art today. The influence of Rauschenberg and Johns radiated through a compact network that included Cy Twombly, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage. Despite working across painting, dance, and music, three artists shared a commitment to experimentation and a reverence for Marcel Duchamp’s redefinition of artistic possibility. Together they formed a tight-knit community that generated ongoing conversation, collaboration, and mutual support – exchanging not only ideas and artworks but also costumes, sets, scores, photographs, and professional advocacy as the American avant-garde took shape.  SPARKS explores how love and work intertwined during this formative period, and how that connection shifted the course of contemporary art. As Rauschenberg shared with Paul Taylor in an interview for Interview magazine in 1990, “I’m not frightened of the affection that Jasper and I had, both personally and as working artists. I don’t see any sin or conflict in those days when each of us was the most important person in the other’s life.”

Distinction

1

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