Opal Gospel1971Each panel: 18 × 20 inches (45.7 × 50.8 cm);
Overall: 21 1/2 × 22 15/16 × 7 inches (54.6 × 58.3 × 17.8 cm)Ten Plexiglas sheets with silkscreen, lucite base, stainless steel box
Edition 196/230The Print and Artist's Book Collection of Phyllis Goody Cohen, Class of 195797.0800Mixed Media20292829513Robert RauschenbergThough portfolios are traditionally associated with works on paper (prints and photography), in the 1960s and ’70s artists increasingly began experimenting with more unconventional supports, including Plexiglas. Opal Gospel, so-named for both the iridescent silkscreen inks used to make it and for the Native American songs and poetry that it comprises, comes housed in a stainless steel box with a base that indicates the placement of the panels as well as the origin of the text printed on each one. However, whether displayed on the wall or left in their base, the notion of chance is paramount: rearranging the overlaid transparent panels produces unique juxtapositions of image and text and introduces a participatory component, while varying their sequence on the wall evokes a range of haphazard narratives and connections. ("All for One and One for All: Portfolios from the Permanent Collection," co-curated by Andrea Inselmann and Sonja Gandert and presented at the Johnson Museum June 24-August 20, 2017)