News Article

Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at FSW Presents 'Dave Muller: Everything Sounds Good Right Now'

Feb 11, 2015

For internationally-acclaimed artist, disc jockey and record collector Dave Muller, Everything Sounds Good Right Now is the ideal theme for his exhibit, which is set to open inside the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW). It will kick off with a three-day weekend of festivities for the community starting Friday, February 20.

The festivities begin with an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. on February 20 featuring a DJ set by Muller himself. At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, the gallery will host another of its popular ArtSPEAK@FSW lectures with Muller, and finally a performance by the abstract band Sonic Combine at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The gallery will be open to the public from February 20 – May 2, 2015.

“The arts at Florida SouthWestern State College are evolving. We celebrate and support our students with the Arts@FSW initiative and exhibit work by world-renowned artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Yoko Ono and now Dave Muller,” said Dr. Jeff Allbritten, President, FSW. “Our students and the community recognize what a treasure the college has with the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery.”

Muller, who is based in Los Angeles, will showcase his signature large-format paintings; portraits of individuals in his life as expressed through LP record “spines.” Each hand-drawn portrait features albums that represent that subject’s taste in music.

Three-dimensional art pieces and six music stations loaded with Muller’s personal collection of over 350,000 songs will also be featured in the gallery. 

Muller arrived in Fort Myers early for a two-week residency at the college to personally transform the gallery space for his own exhibition, with the help of former FSW art students.

“Dave Muller’s 225-foot hand-painted mural in the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery culls imagery from nature to create a landscape providing a backdrop for framed drawings of LP ‘spines,’ album covers and compact discs representing the musical tastes of friends, family and the artist himself,” said Jade Dellinger, Director, Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at FSW.

A billboard, also personally designed by Muller, will appear near the Page Field Airport serving as an announcement and a unique piece of public art. Furthermore, the “spines” featured on the billboard are based on the musical tastes of the gallery’s namesake, Bob Rauschenberg. This is the same location as a billboard by Yoko Ono when her exhibit opened at the gallery in 2014.

Muller has had numerous solo exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Center for Curatorial Studies Museum of Art at Bard College; and the Armand Hammer Museum of Art at UCLA. 

Represented by the Blum & Poe Gallery in Los Angeles, he was selected to inaugurate the gallery’s new Tokyo space with a solo installation in September. His work is featured in the Permanent Collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA/New York); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Events at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at FSW are free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-serve for the ArtSPEAK@FSW lecture. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Closed on Sundays and Holidays.

For more information about the gallery or upcoming events, visit www.RauschenbergGallery.com or call (239) 489-9313.

About The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery:

The Bob Rauschenberg Gallery was founded as The Gallery of Fine Art in 1979 on the Lee County campus of Florida SouthWestern State College/FSW (then Edison Community College).  On June 4, 2004 the Gallery of Fine Art was renamed the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, to honor and commemorate our long time association and friendship with the artist.  Over more than three decades until his death, the Gallery worked closely with Rauschenberg to present world premiere exhibitions including multiple installations of the ¼ Mile or Two Furlong Piece.  The artist insisted on naming the space the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery (versus the “Robert Rauschenberg Gallery”) as it was consistent with the intimate, informal relationship he maintained with both our local Southwest Florida community and FSW.

About FSW:

Florida SouthWestern State College is Southwest Florida’s largest and one of the most affordable institutions of higher education. Annually serving more than 22,000 students globally, FSW offers a variety of nationally-ranked, career-focused academic programs with two- and four-year degrees, and professional certifications. Students are also active in clubs and programs catered to their interests. FSW will debut its intercollegiate athletics program in the fall 2015. Visit www.FSW.edu for more information.

Last Updated: February 11, 2015