John Cage

In tandem with Robert Rauschenberg: Spreads 1975-83, a focused selection of composer John Cage’s Ryoanji works will be exhibited in the gallery’s Ely Room. Rauschenberg and Cage enjoyed an abiding, close personal and professional relationship, and Cage cited the artist's White Paintings as an influence on his famed composition 4’33” (1952). The Ryoanji drawings, prints and compositions were inspired by the rock garden of the Zen Buddhist temple, Ryoanji, in Kyoto, Japan. In 1983 Cage used a collection of 15 stones, mimicking those at Ryoanji, pencils of various grades and his customary chance determined system of working, to create a series of drawings and graphic scores. A selection of these works feature in the exhibition together with recordings of his Ryoanji compositions, accompanied by a new publication.