biography / bibliography
ED RUSCHA
Born on December 16, 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska
Ruscha's art elaborated language and popular culture and his quirky approach to art made his work difficult to categorize. A truly remarkable fact is that despite his success over the years he often had exhibitions in which not a single painting was sold. He took this as a matter of course and eventually his work sold, although it sometimes took several years. He is very prolific; he paints and draws, using unexpected materials in unexpected ways; photography looms very large in his choice of media and through it all, words. He records the contemporary scene in all its flavors. He lectured on painting at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1969 and 1970.