Rauschenberg & Warhol Oddities in Pasadena

Robert Rauschenberg, Green Shirt, 1965-67. Norton Simon Museum, gift of the artist

The Norton Simon Museum's "Plugged In: Art and Electric Light" brings 11 rarely shown works from the vault, all from collection of the Pasadena Museum (and inherited by Old Master-focused Simon in his 1970s takeover). Works by Robert Irwin and Dan Flavin are first-rate, and the others are interesting. Three fascinatingly bad pieces are by the two most famous artists of the lot, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg.

Of Warhol's 1964 White Painting, the artist explained: "My next series will be pornographic pictures. They will look blank. When you turn on the black [ultraviolet] lights, they you see them—big breasts. If a cop came in, you could just flick out the lights or turn on regular lights—how could you say that was pornography?"

The concept hasn't aged well, and White Painting is rarely shown, despite being from a peak year of Warhol's career. Under normal gallery light, it's a blank canvas with illegible blotches. But "Plugged In" leans in to Warhol's intention. The painting is illuminated by timed lighting that alternates between visual-spectrum nothingness and UV hooters. Think of the morphing paintings in Disney's Haunted Mansion, or the porno sculptures of The Loved One film.

Andy Warhol, White Painting, 1964, in gallery and ultraviolet light. Norton Simon Museum, gift of Irving Blum

Robert Rauschenberg, Abbey from the Carnal Clock series, 1969. Norton Simon Museum, gift of the artist

Rauschenberg's "Carnal Clocks" date from his interest in art and technology. Each is a semi-functional clock where light bulbs sequentially illuminate pictures of nude bodies and household objects. The clocks were rarely shown because of what Rauschenberg called their "embarrassing" content. 

Better known is Green Shirt, a 1965–67 neon piece made shortly after the Combines. The neon puzzled Rauschenberg's usual collectors, and he ended up donating it (along with the Carnal Clock) to the Pasadena Museum. In 1970 it was installed on the museum's facade, resulting in numerous public complaints. 

"Plugged In: Art and Electric Light" runs through Feb. 17, 2025. Also on view are pieces by Walter Askin, Laddie John Dill, Jess, and Allen Ruppersberg.

The show offers a rare chance to see the NSM's two Robert Irwin disc paintings side by side