Ed Ruscha - Hardcover

Edward Ruscha; Robert Miller Gallery

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0944680003 ISBN 13: 9780944680001

Publisher: Bellport Pr, 1987

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Book by Edward Ruscha, Robert Miller Gallery

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Hollywood, gas stations, and the airbrushed style of commercial graphics figure predominantly in Ed Ruscha's art. One of the first artists to use text and pop imagery in his paintings, he captured the America of Route 66 and the Sunset Strip. Not tied down to painting, he produced books of photographs that catalog life with a dry, deadpan humor, including Thirtyfour Parking Lots, Nine Swimming Pools, and Some Los Angeles Apartments. Ruscha began his artistic endeavors with plans to become a commercial artist. With his 1956 arrival in Los Angeles and its art community, he was fast on his way to becoming a major creative force with a uniquely American perspective.

The publication of Ed Ruscha coincides with the first traveling retrospective of Ruscha's work in nearly 20 years. Launched at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the show covers his illustrious career from the 1960s through the present. If you can't make it to any of the show's other stops--Chicago, Fort Worth, Miami, or Oxford, England--then this book is a must-have. Included are three essays that elaborate on Ruscha's paintings, use of language, and photography in the context of art history by drawing parallels to earlier American painters and the history of documentary photography. Ruscha defies categorization by straddling both pop and conceptual art with his funny, elegant, and thoughtful work. --J.P. Cohen

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.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.