Venus in Sagittarius : The Art of Freedom

I got to thinking about artists with Venus in Sagittarius and how their Sun sign would influence its expression. Since Venus can only ever be two signs away from the Sun, we'd be looking at  Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius. They're an interesting bunch......first off, since this is where the Sun is right now, Libra.

Robert Rauschenberg

Sun Libra,  Venus Sagittarius

Rodeo Olympic Glut

That Libra Sun made Rauschenberg a great collaborator  - throughout his career he did projects with Cy Twombly, Merce Cunningham and others. His process was about bringing things together, collaging and incorporating found objects into his paintings with the intention of marrying art and sculpture. He is quoted as saying he wanted to work in the gap between life and art, and created a whole body of work known as 'Combines'.

A Sagittarian Venus gave him a love of exploration and travel, of going beyond the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable. He roamed the streets of different countries looking for trash and everyday objects to use in his work and on being invited to create a portrait of the gallery owner Iris Clert sent a telegram instead saying 'This is a portrait of Iris Clert if I say so.'  His White Paintings invited the viewer into pure experience.

Those collaborations were with a wide variety of people outside the fine art world - he designed costumes and sets for radical dance theatre,  worked with engineers, with NASA, BMW and designed an album cover for Talking Heads. His whole life seemed to be about the joining of forms in order explore the boundaries of the known,  to create anew a third entity which expands our perception of reality.

Merce Cunningham Dance Company

As he aged, the onset of the higher aspects of both Libra (justice, equality) and Sagittarius (humanitarianism, generosity) became more apparent. In 1984 He established the Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange at the UN, and went on a seven year tour around the world to encourage world peace and understanding, using art as a medium.

Six years later he he created the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the aims of which were the promotion of world peace, environmental and humanitarian concerns. He established Change Inc. which gave grants to artists in financial need and when  he died he bequeathed millions of dollars to charitable foundations.

Quite the legacy.