A piece from Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts, via ArtInfo.
A year after Robert Rauschenberg’s death on May 12, 2008, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice is showing a lesser-known collection of the late artist.  Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts comprises forty works of metal. Gluts presents pieces actually glutted from the Gulf Iron and Metal Junkyard in Fort Myers, Florida, near the artist’s home.  Constructed of metal culled from old traffic signs and automobiles, awnings and exhaust pipes, these pieces, Rauschenberg has said, are “souvenirs without nostalgia.”  The collection confronts its viewers with possibilites: what metal can become in the face of consumerism and greed, which Rauschenberg has called “rampant.”
Related links:
Overview: Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts [The Peggy Guggenheim Collection]
Guggenheim in Venice Celebrates the Memory of Robert Rauschenberg with Exhibition [Artdaily]
Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents Robert Rauschenberg [Artipedia]
Robert Rauschenberg Has Died At Age 82 [Art Observed]
Guggenheim Museum Honors Late Artist Robert Rauschenberg [the Guggenheim]
Robert Rauschenberg: The Wild and Crazy Guy [Time]
Rauschenberg began work on Glut in 1986, and first exhibited it in 1987, at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers.  Rauschenberg continued to develop Gluts until 1995, touring scrap yards for almost a decade for the materials with which to build this structural series.  Pieces included in the current showing are mainly drawn from the holdings of the Rauschenberg estate.
Above and below: two looks at Gluts, at The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, via whatsonwhen and wunder, respectively.
Born in 1925, Robert Rauschenberg became famous first for his 1950’s collection “Combines,” a quasi-precursor to “Gluts” that also uses nontraditional materials from everyday life, albeit by collage instead of sculpture. Â Since his first solo show at the Leo Castelli Gallery, Rauschenberg himself has always been at the forefront of contemporary art, experimenting with materials from brush to silkscreening, and working with bases that include sheet metal and plaster, paper and nylon, canvas and more, until his death last year.
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Robert Rauschenberg, Greek Toy Glut (Neapolitan), courtesy of the Rauschenberg estate.
Robert Rauschenberg, Regular Diary Glut, via Saatchi Online.
Robert Rauschenberg, Mobile Cluster Glut (Neapolitan) via Museu D’Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina Napoli
Robert Rauschenberg, Summer Glut Ivy, via artnet.
Robert Rauschenberg, Snow Crab Crystal Glut, via artnet.
Robert Rauschenberg, West-Ho Glut, courtesy of the Rauschenberg estate.
The artist has a long history with the Guggenheim family. Â In 1997, the New York museum displayed about 300 of the artist’s works, in an exhibit titled “Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective.” Â In 2008, it launched “A Photo Tribute to the Life of Robert Rauschenberg.”
Above, an image of the artist via the Devorzon Gallery.  Below, Pompei Gourmet Kitchen Glut (Neapolitan), via Museo d’Art Contemporanea Donna Regina Napoli.
Robert Rauschenberg, Blue Gate Secret Spring Glut via artnet.
Robert Rauschenberg, Dutch Roll Glut via artwolf.
Robert Rauschenberg, Blood Orange Summer Glut, courtesy of the Rauschenberg estate.
Robert Rauschenberg, Greenhouse Glut (Neapolitan), courtesy of the Rauschenberg estate.
– rivka fogel
