 12 Silverware and Rescue-Marilyn, 1963 |
 13 Franklin in Philadelphia Studio about 1980 |
 14 Hydrogen Bomb, 1980 |
 15 Kelly, Kennedy and Castro, c. 1980 |
 16 Pope and Panda, 1979 |
In his vast studio at 72nd and Riverside Drive atop the Chatsworth, Bud began experiments with reintroducing concrete reality through photographic images in a manner pioneered by Robert Rauschenberg. By applying offset prints torn from the journals and periodicals of today or whenever, to surfaces still tacky with a coat of synthetic polymer, he could transfer the tonal or color images as a photo-montage, sometimes combined with collage and paint. The compositional tendencies of the pure abstractions continue, but markedly different are the finish and pictorial content. Now, images juxtaposed in deliberate and random association evoke a response to topical commentary as surreal accident. Marilyn Monroe beams through the Drakes’ silverware; Pope meets Panda; Castro turns up at the wedding of Grace Kelly; chance encounters prompted by the news of the day and the luck of the draw in a process made familiar by John Cage. The effect can suggest a storm-whipped, well used old bill-board in design, but here the result of deliberation. A photo of 1980 shows him with a collection of these photo-transfer montages in their original states, including two illustrated in our present group after drastic “improvements” in later years.