Ed Ruscha

Edward Ruscha (b. 1937) is a major figure in American Pop and Conceptual art. Based in Los Angeles, he made his mark in the 1960s with his artist's books (Twentysix Gasoline Stations, 1963), typographic paintings and photographs of highways and parking lots. Ruscha uses everyday language as a plastic material. Isolated words, slogans, interjections or marks are projected onto landscapes, gradient backgrounds or geometric shapes. His work questions the aesthetics of American popular culture, existential emptiness and the mechanisms of visual communication.