Ed Ruscha, a foundational figure of the LA art scene, elevates the vernacular of the West Coast into minimalist poetry.
Ed Ruscha is one of the defining artists of postwar America and an enduring icon of Los Angeles.
Since moving to the city in 1956, he has distilled the spirit of the West into word paintings, drawings, photographs, and artist books that have become part of the cultural canon. A master of paper and print, Ruscha once remarked, “I like the idea of a word becoming a picture, almost leaving its body, then coming back and becoming a word again.” In this exhibition, his work on paper foregrounds that material intuition—anchoring text in space, silence, and suggestion. LA’s vastness, language, and roadside ephemera have remained his subject and muse for over six decades.
His works are held by leading institutions including The Museum of Modern Art (New York), Whitney Museum (New York), J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), and Tate Modern (London).
