Artist Details
| Artist Name | Ed Ruscha |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska |
Artist Biography
Between 1967 and 1973, Ed Ruscha created his Ribbon Words series – graphite drawings that later utilized gunpowder as media. The subject in these three-dimensional, illusionistic drawings were various single words that appear to be written in flowing cursive decorative ribbon. In 1971, Ruscha began to “flatten” and segment the ribbon drawings and, being dissatisfied with graphite and oil paint, found gun powder in his studio that he began to use. Gunpowder offered him things that, as he states, “…others didn’t – certain color and texture…” While Ruscha’s work has roots in Pop Art, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Conceptual Art, he has retained a fundamental connectivity to works inspired by his background in commercial graphic design.
