Ed Ruscha’s paintings are ambiguous and provocative, recycling scraps from popular culture and redefining established genres. Was he one of the first pop artists, a trailblazer for conceptual art, a late surrealist, a pioneer of postmodernism, or simply a bit of everything?
Curators: Lars Nittve and Ann-Sofi Noring
Originally working in graphic design, photography and film, painting became the focus of his oeuvre after he moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s. This comprehensive retrospective presents Ed Ruscha’s paintings, from his early word portraits, via absurdly realistic paintings of mountain ranges and gas stations, to his later, more monumental and complex works in which he often combines whole sentences with other subject matter.
www.edruscha.com
Exhibition organised by Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London in association with Moderna Museet, Stockholm.
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London, 14 October 2009-10 January 2010
Haus der Kunst, Munchen, 12 February-2 May 2010
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 29 May-5 September 2010