Christopher Rauschenberg: Found Art features rarely seen early black-and-white prints first exhibited in 1975 at 112 Greene Street, in New York, and later in his 1992 mid-career retrospective at the Portland Art Museum. The early work reveals his very inquisitive, child-like eye, finding excitement discovering strange juxtapositions, as well as the simple beauty of light itself.
Also on view are more recent, larger color works, focusing on artists’ studios and bizarre mismatches of objects and places. A wonderful incongruity pervades his work: they feel like grab shots of still-lifes. These juxtapositions are reminiscent of his father Robert Rauschenberg’s free-wheeling combinations and democratic eye that treated all subjects as worthy of inclusion.
Christopher Rauschenberg, born in 1951, has been taking pictures since he was 7 years old. He has photographed around the world, and has had more than 100 solo shows in 8 countries. Monographs of his work include three books, seven print-on-demand books and a deck of cards. In 1997 and 1998, he took three trips to Paris to re-photograph 500 locations recorded by Eugene Atget between 1890 and 1927.
Chris is co-founder and past president of the Portland photography festival Photolucida. He is also co-founder, co-curator and Board Chairman of Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon. His work is in the collections of 11 major museums, and in 2003, he received the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship.