Ed Ruscha first moved to Los Angeles from rural Oklahoma in 1956. Since then, he’s built a 50-year career filled with paintings, photo collages, books and various typographic studies that pay homage to the visual lexicon of the City of Angels.
In a new exhibition at Gagosian‘s Saanen location in Switzerland, Ruscha has created a new series of typographic studies on paper, entitled “Dedication Stone.” Each monochromatic drawing is a different rendering of a short word or symbol containing the letter x. Ruscha refers to this letter as the ultimate variable, one which is infinitely adaptable to carrying ideas.
Although the words are presented as abstract lingual units, their cultural associations remain present. This subversion of meaning is a trademark of Ruscha’s oeuvre, who in the past, has experimented with blood, gunpowder, and even Pepto Bismol, as a pigment for his studies. Also intact is the artist’s sense of humor, who has dedicated some work to a jug of whiskey, the exes of the world and the 1919 World Series.
Ed Ruscha’s “Dedication Stone” is on view at the Gagosian until September 26.
Also on view, Paul Insect has a new solo exhibition at Athen’s Allouche Benias Gallery.
