On the eve of Robert Rauschenberg’s 100th birthday, the Menil Collection opens an exhibition that highlights his use of fabric as both a canvas and a medium. In addition to being a forerunner of the Pop art movement, Rauschenberg spent much of the 1970s working with materials like silk and cheesecloth to make large sail-like sculptures. He also often transferred imagery onto fabric. “You begin with the possibilities of the material,” Rauschenberg once said. This show is the first to focus solely on his expressive use of textiles—sometimes combined with found objects, other times interacting with gravity and light. —Charlie St John