Ed Ruscha
COTTON PUFFS, Q-TIPS, SMOKE AND MIRRORS: THE DRAWINGS OF ED RUSCHA
24 June - 26 September 2004
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street
New York City
1 800 WHITNEY
Image: Ed Ruscha. I Was Gasping for Contact, 1976. Pastel on paper. Private collection. Photograph by Douglas M. Parker Studio. copyrights Ed Ruscha.
Long regarded as an American master, Ed Ruscha has redefined the way we see the urban landscape of Los Angeles and the American landscape as a whole. Cotton Puffs, Q-tips, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha, the first museum retrospective of Ruscha’s drawings, highlights the artist’s genius for the deadpan and wry juxtaposition of words and objects. Featuring more than 200 works from the past four decades, the exhibition is on view at the Whitney through September 26, 2004, before traveling to Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
The exhibition is curated by independent curator Margit Rowell, who notes, “Ruscha’s work includes paintings, photographs, prints, books and films, but his works on paper are perhaps his richest vein. His unique media, techniques and letterforms are of his own invention, whereas his singular photographic vision is evident in his crisp or soft-focus renderings of words and images.”
A CONCURRENT SHOW OF RUSCHA’S PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE WHITNEY
An exhibition of Ruscha’s photographs runs concurrently with the display of the artist’s drawings. Organized to celebrate the Whitney’s recent acquisition of a remarkable group of Ruscha’s photographs, Ed Ruscha and Photography, curated by Sylvia Wolf, the Whitney’s Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, includes more than ninety original prints, many of which have never been published or exhibited before. Both shows run through September 26, 2004.
The museum is located at 945 Madison Avenue, New York City. Museum hours are: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. For information, please call 1-800 WHITNEY or visit www.whitney.org.
Cotton Puffs, Q-tips, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha has been made possible by support from The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the National Committee of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Q-tips is a registered trademark of Chesebrough-Pond’s Inc.
