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To Ruscha, With Love
View Enlarged Photo and CaptionIt's true there's never a bad time to visit the National Gallery, but right now there's extra incentive with the launch of the museum's latest show "Cotton Puffs, Q-tips, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha." I know, I know, drawings alone don't sound very enticing, but these works by the California-based artist really pack a punch (See our Ruscha photo gallery). Ruscha has never been easy to categorize, but he's far too fun for that to matter. He broke new ground in the 1960s -- the Standard Oil stations, "Los Angeles County Museum on Fire," his later, often playful, word imagery. He's also a master of technique: Check out his use of gunpowder pigment. Ruscha is scheduled to represent the U.S. at this year's Venice Biennale, so it's a terrific time to consider his work.
Next door to Ruscha, you'll find the museum's Andre Kertesz retrospective. Wholly unrelated, except that it's another stupendous show. Sneak a peek in our Kertesz photo gallery. -- Maura
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washingtonpost.com
| February 14, 2005; 2:03 PM ET
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Posted by: edward | February 15, 2005 5:23 PM | Report abuse
I don't think his work is very artistic.
Posted by: LDShap00 | February 22, 2005 11:07 AM | Report abuse
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I love Ruscha! The only major negative with his work is that he's never allowed many prints to be made of his various paintings, so Ruscha fans like myself have to content ourselves with the odd show.
Thanks for pointing this out!