Diverse Exhibitions at the Neuberger

PURCHASE, N.Y.

:The collection of the Neuberger Museum of Art is remarkably diverse as evidenced by the variety of exhibitions that are currently on view and will be up in the near future.

Lithographs and drawings by Robert Rauschenberg based on the first volume of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, the Inferno, will be on view at the museum starting January 23.

Rauschenberg spent 18 months between 1959 and 1960 illustrating the Fourteenth Century allegory using a translation by John Ciardi. The result was "XXXIV Drawings for Dante's Inferno," one for each canto.

"Robert Rauschenberg: Selections from the Permanent Collection at the Neuberger Museum of Art" comprises a selection of lithographs and drawings from that project.

Dante's work had great moral and political relevance in Fourteenth Century Florence, and Rauschenberg's mid-Twentieth Century interpretation was equally topical. Rauschenberg transferred contemporary images from mass media, such as Time, Life and Sports Illustrated, to represent characters in the allegory. The images are each meant to be read vertically from upper left to lower right as a sequential narrative. In each, Dante and his guide to Hell, the poet Virgil, proceed through the nine levels of Hell. The various characters take on contemporary guises. Dante is represented variously by a golfer in a Pro-Fit ad, corrupt politicians in Hell are seen as Wall Street businessmen, and warriors appear as Olympians, albeit fairly shoddy-looking ones. In the image "Canto XXXI: The Central Pull of Malebolge, The Giants" Dante and Virgil are seen in the upper left corner of the composition as they approach the eighth circle of Hell. Dante is the figure in the upper left corner in a towel. The guardians of Hell are portrayed as Olympic athletes. A chain link fence implies power and captivity at the same time. As the eye follows the narrative, Dante and Virgil appear nearly submerged as they are lowered into the pit.

The exhibition also includes "Surface Series" and "Features" from Rauschenberg's "Currents," the 1970 collage and silkscreen series based on social and political events of the 1960s. In that series, which was 54 feet long, Rauschenberg created photomontage compositions using cuttings from newspaper articles and ads to describe the currents swirling though society and current events. The seemingly random, disjointed quality of the images conveys the artist's somber view of the direction of modern society.

"Robert Rauschenberg: Selections from the Permanent Collection at the Neuberger Museum of Art" remains on view through April 10.

"The Power of Bronze: Royal Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin" offers ten copper-alloy sculptures from Benin, now part of Nigeria, that were created for royal ancestral altars in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries.

The royal court of Benin was known to be remarkably luxurious as early as the Fifteenth Century with lavish ritual objects made of bronze and ivory. Obas, kings or warriors who were believed to be divine beings, ruled every aspect of their subjects' lives and only they could commission the bronze works that served only to enhance their authority.

Only after the British sacked the capital city in 1897 and confiscated thousands of objects did the artistic achievement of Benin become known to westerners.

The exhibit is small (12 pieces) but profound. The centerpiece of the show is a Sixteenth or Seventeenth Century plaque bearing the image of an Oba flanked by attendants and musicians. Ten bronze sculptures radiate from the central plaque and illustrate leadership, life, court rituals and regalia. A bronze figure from Ife, the sacred city of Yoruba, links the exhibition to the place where the bronzes are believed to have been made. Also on view is a commemorative head of a king from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and a figure of a queen mother from the collection of Marian and Daniel Malcolm, which are on view for the first time. "The Power of Bronze: Royal Sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin" remains on view at the museum through February 13.

The Neuberger's permanent African art collection is a highly regarded one that illustrates the richness of African arts. The permanent collection provides an introduction to the richness and complexity of the visual artistic traditions of Africa. Spanning a broad geographic range from Mali to Mozambique, the works featured in the collection attest to the creativity of African artists from more than 30 different cultures.

In celebration of the museum's 30th anniversary, two new exhibits open March 6. "New at the Neuberger: Recent Acquisitions" showcases Ursula von Rydingsvard's monumental (831/2 inches by 70 inches by 69 inches) "Bowl with Side Steps," 2002, that was purchased with funds from Neuberger Berman Partners in honor of Roy R. Neuberger's 100th birthday. The exhibit also includes a photographically based installation by identical twins Doug and Mike Starn, a selection of photographic portraits of artists by Marvin Lazarus, a realist painting by Doug Wada and an abstract painting by Phil Binaco.

The museum's "Exposed: Thirty Years of Collecting Photography" opens on March 6, and includes Andy Goldsworthy's "East Coast Cairn," a photographic exploration of time and tide, and William Wegman's "Red Riding Hood," in which the photographer used images of his Weimaraners - Battina as Little Red Riding Hood and Fay as the Fairy Godmother.

The Neuberger Museum of Art is located on the campus of the State University of New York at 735 Anderson Hill Road in Purchase. For information, 914-251-6100 or .