Ed Ruscha - Hardcover

Neal Benezra; Kerry Brougher; Phyllis Rosenzweig; Ed Ruscha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3908247330 ISBN 13: 9783908247333

Publisher: Scalo Verlag Ac, 2000

Synopsis

One of the most consistently inventive artists of recent times, Los Angeles-based Ed Ruscha has been a pioneer in the use of language and imagery drawn from the popular media. From his early powerful word paintings to his influential artist books of the sixties and seventies to his recent colorful views of generic mountains, Ruscha has investigated the spaces between highways and journeys, images and words, abstraction and representation, public imagery and the contemporary landscape. In this publication, which accompanies a major retrospective exhibition organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, Neal Benezra, Kerry Brougher, and Phyllis Rosenzweig focus on all aspects of Ruscha's career, revealing him not merely as an artist closely linked with Los Angeles, but as an important international figure in contemporary art.

About this title

About the Author

Ed Ruscha was born on December 16, 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, but grew up in Oklahoma City where his family moved when he was 4. In 1956, he moved to Los Angeles, attending the Chouinard Art Institute. Under the influence of teachers such as Robert Irwin, Richards Ruben, and Emerson Woelffer, Rushca gave up his original intention of becoming a cartoonist and instead began to focus on fine art. Working occassionally as a graphic designer, Ruscha began using words in his paintings--an interest that has continued through the present--and the books he produced during the sixties and seventies have been deeply influential on many artists.

Reviews

Ed Ruscha straddles an interesting line between Pop Art and the more experimental Minimalist art of the 1960s. This catalog for a large retrospective traveling exhibition of the artist's work follows his early career as he moved from Oklahoma to California and focuses on his important contributions (such as Twenty-six Gasoline Stations) to the field of artist's books. Such Ruscha icons as "Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas" and "Los Angeles County Museum on Fire" are highlighted, as are newer works (e.g., "Western") that see Ruscha moving toward a more impressionistic gray-scale palette. This includes an extensive chronology of the artist's life and exhibition record as well as a detailed bibliography. Recommended for larger collections of 20th-century art.DMartin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scalo Verlag Ac
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3908247330
• ISBN 13: 9783908247333
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192