Oral history interview with George Holzer, 2016

Biographical Note

George Holzer is an artist, photographer, digital printmaker, and teacher. Born in New Jersey, he has lived and worked in Maryland since 1991. He graduated from the University of Southern Florida, and worked at Graphicstudio and Saff Tech Arts, collaborating with Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and others. Currently, George is involved in photographing fine art for museums, galleries, artists, and websites, as well as consulting for museums and galleries on installation and lighting

Scope and Contents

George Holzer recounts how he came to photography, noting that he is dyslexic and he struggled to find an educational path that fit. He was drafted into the Marines during the Vietnam War, working as a computer programmer in Hawaii. He describes the decision-making process that led him back to college in Florida, which is where he began his arts education and encountered the work of Rauschenberg. He went on to attend University of South Florida Tampa and Grahicstudio, where he enrolled in photography and went on to get an MFA in photography. He began work with Rauschenberg in 1982 through Graphicstudio, and describes his technical process of printing for Rauschenberg on Chinese Summerhall. Holzer describes the evolution of his work at Graphicstudio into the early 1990s, including work documenting the production of ROCI projects. Holzer describes his transition from Graphicstudio to Saff Tech Arts, and his ongoing work with Robert Rauschenberg on Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI) and other works in the 1990s. Holzer reflects on his encounters with Rauschenberg towards the end of his life, and the dynamic at Captiva at that time. He concludes by reflecting on the impact of working with various artists on his own work, the state of his current work, and the arc of his life overall

Subjects

• Artists--United States--Interviews.
• Captiva Island (Fla.)
• Dyslexia.
• Graphicstudio.
• Holzer, George--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Photography--United States.
• Prints--Technique.
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange.
• Saff Tech Arts.
• Vanderscoff, Cameron interviewer.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2016