Ed Ruscha
American, 1937
Ruscha has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography and film. He achieved recognition for paintings incorporating words and phrases, and for his many photographic books, all influenced by the deadpan irreverence of the Pop Art movement. Ruscha was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1937 and, after moving to Los Angeles to attend the Chouinard Art Institute, Ruscha had his first solo exhibition in 1963 at the Ferus Gallery. He continues to live and work in Los Angeles. Ruscha has been the subject of numerous retrospectives at museums including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Ruscha is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including an award in painting from the National Council on the Arts, and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. A major retrospective of his work was shown by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2023.
“All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I’ve always had a weakness for heroic imagery.”
Photo: Sidney B. Felsen
