WEST PALM BEACH, FL.- This year’s palmbeach3 fair, showcasing contemporary, photography and SOFA (sculpture objects and functional art), opens today and will be open through January 17, 2005. This year the exhibition will have more than 90 galleries exhibiting from all over the world. There will be six rarely seen Robert Rauschenberg works from the 1970s including unconventional sculptures made from materials found near his Florida home base. Robert Rauschenberg became one of the major artists of his generation and is credited along with Jasper Johns of breaking the stronghold of Abstract Expressionism. He was known for assemblage, conceptualist methods, printmaking, and willingness to experiment with non-artistic materials -- all innovations that anticipated later movements such as Pop Art, Conceptualism, and Minimalism. He developed a collage and montage technique called "combine painting" using real objects such as photographs and found objects which he affixed to the painting surface.

The six pieces to be showcased at palmbeach3, represented by Eckert Fine Art –Naples, are from a period during which Rauschenberg moved his residence and studio to Captiva, Florida. Having lost his familiar palette of materials found in urban settings, he began to create collages with materials in their found state such as cardboard boxes and paper bags. He then explored fabrics as an unstretched support for imagery, using lustrous and diaphanous silks, chiffons and satin, with these works simply pinned to the wall but investigating the qualities of veiling and translucency

Philosopher Bertrand Russell once defined the ideal form of art work: It should begin with propositions no one would question and conclude with propositions no one could accept. Who would have thought cardboard boxes, cola bottles, Newsweek clippings, clothing fragments and electrical fans could serve as the genesis for a renowned artist’s work? Just ask the Guggenheim’s curators what they think: in 1998 they hosted the largest ever retrospective in the museum’s history with 400 of Rauschenberg’s works. For a taste of that work, you can just visit sunny Florida instead, enjoying the beach, the palm trees and some of the world’s best contemporary art all at the same time.

Palmbeach3 Contemporary will feature post 1950 paintings, sculpture, works on paper, video, and installation. A unique mix of prestigious art dealers-many of them also participating in world renowned art fairs such as Art Basel (Switzerland), Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze (London), Art Cologne(Cologne, Germany), FIAC(Paris), and ARCO(Madrid) –and interesting upcoming galleries from North & Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Some of the exhibitors are showing for the first time in the United States.

palmbeach3 Photography: Vintage and contemporary works including fashion and documentary photography from the foremost photography galleries and the hottest cutting-edge dealers worldwide.

palmbeach3 SOFA: The leading contemporary sculptural object, glass, ceramic, and functional art galleries from the renowned SOFA shows in Chicago and New York.