Ed Ruscha Ting... 1984 dry pigment on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Signed and dated “Ed Ruscha 1984” lower right. This work will be included in the forthcoming volume of Edward Ruscha: Catalogue Raisonné of the Works on Paper.
Provenance Gagosian Gallery, New York Private collection, Italy Catalogue Essay Ed Ruscha’s drawings are achieved through a unique method; the powdered pigments are rubbed into the fibers of the rag paper, producing the luminous surface exemplified by the present lot. The smooth, yet subtly textured surface is more closely related to that of a watercolor. Ting..., 1984, thrills with an illusionist power; the sensuous dry pigment bathes the pictorial surface in a dreamlike haze. The stylized word “TING” in the center of the composition hypnotizes in its typeface, arrangement, and the ellipses which follow the letters. An aquamarine passageway is set against a charcoal wall, possibly a doorway or window leading to the outside. In the middle of the passage, the word “TING,” followed by the curious ellipses lingers. It could be the beginning or end of a word or sentence, or the high, clear, ringing sound of a doorbell. If the latter, the brief and fleeting sound of a doorbell ringing is forever captured in a marvelous cloud of blue, before fading and vanishing away. Ruscha explains, “When I see a word or phrase, or hear one (on the radio or in the street), I have to capture it immediately. Otherwise it will slip away from me, disappear.” (Ed Ruscha in Margit Rowell’s Cotton Puffs, Q-Tips©, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, 2004, p. 15). Read More Artist Bio Ed Ruscha American • 1937 Quintessentially American, Ed Ruscha is an L.A.-based artist whose art, like California itself, is both geographically rooted and a metaphor for an American state of mind. Ruscha is a deft creator of photography, film, painting, drawing, prints and artist books, whose works are simultaneously unexpected and familiar, both ironic and sincere. His most iconic works are at turns poetic and deadpan, epigrammatic text with nods to advertising copy, juxtaposed with imagery that is either cinematic and sublime or seemingly wry documentary. Whether the subject is his iconic Standard Gas Station or the Hollywood Sign, a parking lot or highway, his works are a distillation of American idealism, echoing the expansive Western landscape and optimism unique to postwar America. View More Works
Ed Ruscha Ting... 1984 dry pigment on paper 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm) Signed and dated “Ed Ruscha 1984” lower right. This work will be included in the forthcoming volume of Edward Ruscha: Catalogue Raisonné of the Works on Paper.
Provenance Gagosian Gallery, New York Private collection, Italy Catalogue Essay Ed Ruscha’s drawings are achieved through a unique method; the powdered pigments are rubbed into the fibers of the rag paper, producing the luminous surface exemplified by the present lot. The smooth, yet subtly textured surface is more closely related to that of a watercolor. Ting..., 1984, thrills with an illusionist power; the sensuous dry pigment bathes the pictorial surface in a dreamlike haze. The stylized word “TING” in the center of the composition hypnotizes in its typeface, arrangement, and the ellipses which follow the letters. An aquamarine passageway is set against a charcoal wall, possibly a doorway or window leading to the outside. In the middle of the passage, the word “TING,” followed by the curious ellipses lingers. It could be the beginning or end of a word or sentence, or the high, clear, ringing sound of a doorbell. If the latter, the brief and fleeting sound of a doorbell ringing is forever captured in a marvelous cloud of blue, before fading and vanishing away. Ruscha explains, “When I see a word or phrase, or hear one (on the radio or in the street), I have to capture it immediately. Otherwise it will slip away from me, disappear.” (Ed Ruscha in Margit Rowell’s Cotton Puffs, Q-Tips©, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, 2004, p. 15). Read More Artist Bio Ed Ruscha American • 1937 Quintessentially American, Ed Ruscha is an L.A.-based artist whose art, like California itself, is both geographically rooted and a metaphor for an American state of mind. Ruscha is a deft creator of photography, film, painting, drawing, prints and artist books, whose works are simultaneously unexpected and familiar, both ironic and sincere. His most iconic works are at turns poetic and deadpan, epigrammatic text with nods to advertising copy, juxtaposed with imagery that is either cinematic and sublime or seemingly wry documentary. Whether the subject is his iconic Standard Gas Station or the Hollywood Sign, a parking lot or highway, his works are a distillation of American idealism, echoing the expansive Western landscape and optimism unique to postwar America. View More Works
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
