Ed Ruscha

Ed Ruscha was born in 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts) in 1960 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. One of America's most influential contemporary artists, he defies categorization with his diverse output of photographic books and tongue-in-cheek photo-collages, paintings, drawings and prints. Ruscha's work is inspired by the ironies and idiosyncrasies of life in Los Angeles, which he often conveys by placing glib words and phrases from colloquial and consumerist usage atop photographic images or fields of color.

SUITE OF SIX LITHOGRAPHS FROM THE BOOK COVERS SERIES

Ruscha was first in residence at Graphicstudio during its early years, in 1970-71, when he completed a series of six finely hand-drawn lithographs - among them Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Nine Swimming Pools and Real Estate Opportunities. Ruscha derived the prints' subject matter and imagery from his artist books of the same titles and they demonstrate the artist's interest in commercial art and typography.

ME AND THE and OH NO

Thirty years later in 2000-01 Ruscha returned to the atelier, this time for a suite of color photogravures and a limited-edition artist book. The early and late bodies of work share striking similarities in the interplay of word and image and in the exploration of the intersection of fine art and commercial printing techniques, and display an enduring commitment to the artist book form by Ruscha, a pioneer of the artist book movement in the 1960s. ME AND THE and OH NO are fore-edge books, with printing that appears when the gilt edge is fanned one way or another. Fore-edge painting was popular in the 18th century but rarely used today; Graphicstudio research encompasses the recapture and revitalization of such technology. The pages of the book are blank, perhaps a commentary on the meanings we would ascribe, or fail to ascribe, to such seemingly simple words.

COUNTRY CITYSCAPES

Country Cityscapes, a suite of six prints, showcases Graphicstudio's achievement in the development of multi-plate color photogravure. Ruscha rephotographed, as 4x5 transparencies, offset lithographic, calendar-like images of magnificent landscapes, and the transparencies were made into photogravure plates. The commercial photographs are recast as high-art prints, the tracks of offset lithography and characteristics of hand photogravure both evident in the streaky surface marks and softened textures of the images. Ruscha then created blacked- or whited-out spaces for text on the prints, which he left blank. The text appears as almost invisible gray screenprint on the center bottom margin of the prints. Ironic and aggressive, the words create a startling counterpoint to the iconic nature of the imagery.

Further Resources

Artist's Site: edruscha.com

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

For sales, or more information about an edition, please contact Graphicstudio at (813) 974-3503 or gsoffice@usf.edu.

Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.