Ribbon Words

The is the first publication to focus on Ed Ruscha’s (born 1937) Ribbon Word works, begun in 1966. It features reproductions of more than 50 masterpieces, along with three essays by the show’s curator Dieter Buchhart, as well as contributions by Glenn O’Brien and Alexandra Schwartz, highlighting the works’ wide array of subtle color and nuanced drawing technique, and showing how Ruscha’s paper ribbons became three-dimensional, illusionistic objects. Ruscha developed this body of work from calligraphic lines and cursive handwriting in order to give his drawings the appearance of three-dimensional forms. His imaginary ribbon-word objects provoke multiple cultural meanings as they suggest sculptures modeled by light. Ruscha’s breathtaking work, using an inimitable trompe l’oeil technique with the application of gunpowder, constitutes a major contribution to 20th-century art.

Ed Ruscha was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1937 and grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1941 to 1956. He moved to Los Angeles, California and attended Chouinard Art Institute from 1956 to 1960. His work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in major museums and private collections throughout the world. In 2001, Ruscha was elected to The American Academy of Arts & Letters as a member of the Department of Art. He was chosen by the U.S. Department of State to represent the United States at the 2005 Venice Biennale.

Glenn O Brien, redacteur de la rubrique - Style -du prestigieux magazine americain GQ, a commence sa carriere de journaliste au cote d Andy Warhol, a fonde un groupe de rock, coecrit un film avec Jean-Michel Basquiat et imagine des campagnes publicitaires pour Calvin Klein, Armani, Nike ou Swatch. Il en sait plus que n importe qui sur la mode et sur l elegance masculine.

Alexandra Schwartz is the editor of a collection of Ed Ruscha's writings, "Leave Any Information at the Signal: Writings, Interviews, Bits, Pages" (MIT Press, 2002) and the coeditor of "Modern Women: Women Artists in the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art".