In 1956, Ruscha moved from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles, where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute. Ruscha began to work for ad agencies, honing his skills in schematic design and considering questions of scale, abstraction, and viewpoint, which became integral to his painting and photography. He produced his first artist’s book, Twentysix Gasoline Stations—a series of deadpan photographs the artist took while driving on Route 66 from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City—in 1963.
By the late 60s, Ruscha had begun to experiment with printmaking. He printed Hollywood, 1968, himself in his studio on Western Avenue. His biggest foray into printmaking began at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop on Tamarind Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1960 by artist, printmaker, and educator, June Wayne, Tamarind was largely responsible for bringing printmaking to the west coast and starting the renaissance of print publishing in the United States.
At his studio on Western Avenue, Ruscha made works such as Mocha Standard, which was printed by Cirrus founder Jean Milant and fellow Tamarind student Dan Socha. In 1969, Milant worked printing the three gas stations, his first professional silkscreen project.
ED RUSCHA AT CIRRUS EDITIONS highlights Cirrus's prolonged engagement with Ruscha, with works dating from 1969 to 2020. 35 works in total will be exhibited. Drawing from both our archives and Ruscha's personal archives, a survey of his work at Cirrus will likely never be shown again in such completion. Highlighting Cirrus's work in lithography and silkscreen, Ruscha's graphic works are underscored by masterful and technically difficult printing techniques. Our most recent print, MOTOR, was completed as part of Cirrus's 50th anniversary project.
"Ed Ruscha: Editions 1959-1999" was held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in 1999. Another retrospective was held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2004. Ruscha represented the United States at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005. His current retrospective NOW THEN, is on view at LACMA until October 6th 2024.
Please join us Saturday, July 20th 3-5pm for the opening reception.