Rauschenberg

Rauschenberg, enfant terrible of American modernism in the 1950s and '60s, is now an ambassador for global good will. ROCI (Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange), an organization he founded in 1984, sponsors art exhibits and fosters cross-cultural collaborations with the aim of promoting world peace. Kotz's admiring, richly illustrated biography-cum-appreciation of ``Poppa Pop'' charts his boyhood escape from the conformity of the oil town of Port Arthur, Tex., his formative years at Black Mountain College, his political activism in the service of civil rights and peace, and above all, his restless experimentation blurring the boundaries of painting, sculpture, photography and printmaking. A contributing editor to ARTnews , Kotz scans the varied facets of Rauschenberg's output, including his color drawings for Dante's Inferno , his sets for Merce Cunningham's dances, the cardboard-box constructions and the sensual fabric collages and mud sculptures inspired by a 1975 trip to India. (Jan.)