The renowned artist Ed Ruscha was born in Nebraska, grew up in Oklahoma, and has lived and worked in Southern California since the late 1950s.
Published in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Exhibition dates: de Young, San Francisco: July 16 October 9, 2016".
Waldie, plus a fascinating interview with the artist conducted by Kerry Brougher, this stunning catalogue, produced in close collaboration with the Ruscha studio, offers the first full exploration of the painter s lifelong fascination with the romantic concept and modern reality of the evolving American West.
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Featuring essays by Karin Breuer and D.
They feature images of the contemporary West, such as parking lots and swimming pools, but also of its historical past: covered wagons, buffalo, teepees, and howling coyotes.
The cinematic sources of his subject matter can be seen in his silhouette pictures, which often appear to be grainy stills from old Hollywood movies.
Ruscha s interest in what the real West has become and Hollywood s version of it plays out across his oeuvre.
I Twisted through More Damn Traffic to Get Here further underscore a contemporary Western sensibility. . .
His iconic word images declaring Adios, Rodeo, Wheels over Indian Trails, and Honey .
The everyday landscapes of the West, especially as experienced from the automobile gas stations, billboards, building facades, parking lots, and long stretches of roadway are the primary motifs of his often deadpan and instantly recognizable paintings and works on paper, as well as his influential artist books such as Twentysix Gasoline Stations and All the Buildings on the Sunset Strip.
Beginning in 1956, road trips across the American SouthWest furnished a conceptual trove of themes and motifs that he mined throughout his career.
The renowned artist Ed Ruscha was born in Nebraska, grew up in Oklahoma, and has lived and worked in Southern California since the late 1950s