Ed Ruscha draws inspiration from familiar subjects, including roadside gas stations, consumer products, and commercial logos. Colloquial speech also fascinates him. Rhymes, puns, guttural sounds, and catchphrases are among his signature motifs. Transforming the seemingly mundane into the extraordinary, Ruscha offers a fresh perspective on American vernacular culture.

Born in Omaha in 1937, Ruscha grew up in Oklahoma City, where his family settled in 1941. He moved to Los Angeles in 1956 to study commercial art. After working as a graphic artist for a brief time, Ruscha expanded his practice to encompass drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and artist’s books.

Ed Ruscha: Paper includes drawings, prints, and photographs from the artist’s recent gift to the Museum. These works, produced over six decades, feature graphics, typefaces, and letterforms rendered in ink, acrylic, pencil, pastel, and gunpowder on paper. A celebration of the artist’s wry use of image and text, this exhibition also highlights his experimentation with diverse media and techniques.

Pictured: Ed Ruscha (American, b. 1937), Standard Station, 1966, 7-color screenprint, 25 5/8 × 40 in. (65.1 × 101.6 cm), Promised gift of Ed and Danna Ruscha, © Ed Ruscha, Photograph © Bill Ganzel, Ganzel Group Communications, Inc.