Park/ROCI Mexico

1985 · Paintings, Collages

May one see it?

Not receiving at present

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 2 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum's own collection data

On the map Museum page

About the painting

“One of the reasons that I am so thankful that I’m an artist is that the language of being an artist works anywhere. There is no country that is so rich or so poor that they don’t have an artistic culture. Artists always understand each other…I even feel restricted with the world as small as it is already. I’m trying to take advantage of as much as possible.”

- Robert Rauschenberg, “A Conversation about Art and ROCI, ” 1990

Park/ROCI MEXICO was created in Mexico City by American artist Robert Rauschenberg as a part of his global art tour ROCI – Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange. Rauschenberg traveled to 22 countries, creating art by using local artistic traditions and

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materials. In Park/ROCI MEXICO, the vibrant colors and rich religious culture of Mexico are made visible in the crimson poinsettia doilies, which have been arranged to resemble a “Dia de los Muertos” skull. The rest of the canvas is starkly black and white – based on the collage of Rauschenberg’s own photographs and those he found in Mexico, screen printed on the canvas to create a complex rhythm with the poinsettia skeleton. This work would have traveled to exhibitions in the 21 other countries visited by ROCI, creating an

artistic dialogue between nations by presenting Rauschenberg’s exploration of Mexican artistic and visual culture.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Particulars

Accession number: 2013.75

In the catalog

Paintings Acrylic German painting American painting Contemporary art 20th century United States

Sources

Minneapolis Institute of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 8 days ago
Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — Robert Rauschenberg, Park/ROCI/Mexico, 1985 © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

Meanwhile, in the life of Robert Rauschenberg

The whole life

c. 1983
Darryl Pottorf becomes his life partner
For the last 25 years of his life Rauschenberg's partner was the artist Darryl Pottorf, formerly his assistant.
1983
Grammy for a Talking Heads album design
Rauschenberg won a Grammy for his design of the limited edition of Talking Heads' album “Speaking in Tongues”.
1984
Announces ROCI at the United Nations
In 1984 Rauschenberg announced at the United Nations the launch of the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI), funded almost entirely by himself. Over seven years he toured ten countries — Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, China, Tibet, Japan, Cuba, the USSR, Germany and Malaysia — taking photographs, making works inspired by each culture, exhibiting them locally and often donating one to a local institution.

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