« I barely knew I wanted to be an artist. I liked my art classes and painting was fun, I guess, but I didn't realize that seeing the country was going to inspire me to further explore that...»
Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Ed Ruscha cites his main influences as popular culture, cartoons and comic strips. His iconic 1962 work 'OOF' which features the word in gold lettering against a cobalt blue background could be taken straight out of the panel of a comic book. This was the first of many works featuring text, which have evolved over the years to feature typography over images. Known as 'word paintings' Ruscha likens the background images to stage settings for the words in the foreground, creating a tension between the two elements. Ed Ruscha’s exploration of landscapes began in 1962 with first art book "Twenty-six Gasoline Stations". It featured photographs of gas stations along Route 66 referencing the Beat Generation and reminiscent of Edward Hopper's 'Gas Station'. Experimenting in surrealism in the mid 1960s Ruscha's works such 'Strange Catch for a Fresh Water Fish' show objects floating in minimal spaces, often featuring graphite pencils. In the 1980s Ed Ruscha merged his love of popular culture and Southern Californian landscapes with "Hollywood" in which he repositions iconic Hollywood sign on the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains ridge against a torrid red horizon. In 2011 his exhibition "Psycho Spaghetti Western" featured desolate landscapes littered with mattresses, junk, tires and other discarded domestic items on diagonal planes. (Artist website) Read Less
![Ed Ruscha, Evil [Not For Sale], screen print with bold black text EVIL on a vibrant red background.](https://media.composition.gallery/artworkpic/ed-ruscha-evil-not-for-sale-screen-print-available-for-sale-on-composition-gallery1716376549-87409_200x138.jpg "Ed Ruscha, Evil [Not For Sale], screen print with bold black text EVIL on a vibrant red background.")
