Rauschenberg’s artwork is not only about personal expression but also about the larger world. He conveyed the larger culture in all its complexity. While generally thought of as a pop artist his artwork is visually involved and varied. He took many images from the media and often even “grabage” or cast-offs from every day life to create his art. Rauschenberg built upon the great Duchampain idea of making something out of the mundane in a very bold way.
Rauschenberg described himself as a ‘reporter’. His work broke with the traditional dimensions of what art was. He would allude to something important going on but would not tell his audience exactly what it was. An ambiguous and timeless quality remains in much of his art.
Marroquin uncovers truth and investigates information that is avoided by the main stream media. Her Headlines Series, created during the 2020 pandemic, in particular, explores censorship within the corporate news media as well as chronicles the current times. This structure of censorship is nothing new in the corporate and political system.
She closely examines the news, current events and the truth in what is really going on. Marroquin looks, not only for patterns and trends, but also past the simple words of the headlines to understand what is going on in the world. In addition, examining social justice and the human condition she subtly draws attention to empathy. Discerning propaganda from fact is at the core of her studio practice.
While working decades apart, both artists document what is going on in the world around them. What they are doing is larger than just the pop-art notion of regurgitating the current popular culture. They are viewing the world thought the eyes of the artist for everyone to see and recording it for future generations and cultures.
