Fünf Freunde. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly

The exhibition delves into the unique connections formed through the intimate exchanges between John Cage (1912-1992), Merce Cunningham (1919-2009), Jasper Johns (*1930), Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), and Cy Twombly (1928-2011). Featuring over 150 artworks, scores, stage props, costumes, photographs, and archival materials, the show offers an in-depth look at the interplay among these five artist friends. The Museum Brandhorst also highlights Cy Twombly's work, which forms a significant focus of its collection, in a new light. The exhibition spans from the 1940s to the late 1970s, depicting an era where the intertwining of art, friendship, and love became a crucial driving force behind the creations of this artist group.

The origins of this artist group trace back to the early 1940s when Cage and Cunningham established both a professional and romantic relationship. Rauschenberg and Twombly met in New York in the spring of 1951, and by summer, they were attending the legendary Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where Cunningham and Cage taught. Close connections quickly formed among the four. Cage wrote texts about the artists, collected their works, and his theories influenced their art. Everyday images, sounds, and movements were intertwined through chance operations, creating a conceptual framework. At Black Mountain College, Twombly and Rauschenberg collaborated on a series of monochromatic White Paintings traditionally attributed solely to Rauschenberg. Following a shared trip through Europe and North Africa in 1952/53, they shared a studio in New York's Fulton Street, where they developed their distinct artistic languages: Rauschenberg with his Combine Paintings and Twombly with his graffiti-like 'doodles.' In 1954, Jasper Johns joined their circle, and until 1961, he and Rauschenberg worked side by side, establishing what would later be recognized as 'Painting As Object.'

The exhibition's focus on their friendships and artistic collaborations brings forth the queer aspects within their art. Numerous hidden references to non-heteronormative desires can be found in their works. The artist group broke away from the machismo rhetoric of Abstract Expressionism. Many pieces in the exhibition reference queer figures from art, music, and literary history, including Frank O'Hara, Hart Crane, and the ancient poet Sappho. The artists navigated their own sexualities through codes, particularly during the repressive McCarthy era. The political backdrop of the Cold War and the increasing technologization of society permeated the works of all five artists. Rauschenberg maintained an almost obsessive engagement with American (power) symbols; Johns' most famous works are appropriations of the American flag and targets, which refer to state interests and military affairs; Cage explored anarchism through Henry David Thoreau and was fascinated by media theoretical concepts like the Global Village. Twombly's seemingly detached references to antiquity in his 1960s paintings often hark back to concrete political events, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy or the Cuban Missile Crisis. Notably, Twombly and Rauschenberg responded in their artistic endeavors to the developments in space exploration, with Rauschenberg's Stoned Moon Book (1970) commissioned by NASA. In 1968, Twombly created the painting Orion III, which references the design plan of a novel nuclear-powered rocket system.