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Edward Ruscha Biography

Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (roo-SHAY; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California.

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Edward Ruscha Quotes

I knew I wanted to be some kind of artist from about 12. I met a neighbour who drew cartoons, and I had an idea I wanted to be a cartoonist - or something that involved Indian ink, at any rate.

Artist, Cartoon, Cartoons, Ideas, Indian, Rate

Basically everything I've done in art, I was in possession of when I was 20 years old. I use a waste retrieval method of working. I'll go back and use something that disgusted me 15 years ago but that I had enough sense to think about. Some artists change dramatically. I see my work more like history being written.

Art, Like, Thinking, Work, Years

I'm very stodgy. I'm always looking at old photos of California and Los Angeles, knowing that what I'm looking at is now full of houses. There used to be vacant lots in Los Angeles, now all taken up by three-storey boxes - it's all getting infilled.

Angeles, California, Knowing, Taken

Most artists are doing basically the same thing - staying off the streets.

Artist, Artists, Same, Streets, Survival

Perhaps there would be more anxiety in my work if I lived in New York.

Anxiety, Lived, New York, Perhaps, Would Be, York

I think the most interesting stuff comes from people who've just got nothing to lose. You know, let's kamikaze this thing - just throw themselves in it, devil may care.

Devil, Interesting, People, Stuff, Think, Thinking

A lot of abstract painters seem to be doing everything all at once now. And so these different styles are jibing and not so jibing, and they're clashing. But they all seem to be working in their own domain. Whereas back in the '60s, man, it was kind of a dull world. It was a vital world. But it was kind of contained and not too recognized by the public. Now art is absolutely recognized by the public.

Art, Everything, Men, Recognized, Style, World

I barely knew I wanted to be an artist. I liked my art classes and painting was fun, I guess, but I didn't realize that seeing the country was going to inspire me to further explore that. . . but that's what it did.

Art, Classes, Country, Fun, Guess, Seeing

The one thing I miss is hitchhiking. Now there's no more of that. When's the last time you saw a hitchhiker? It's not that I consider it a great sport, but it was my way of seeing the country. The open road, especially in the western United States, is still very pristine, but everything else around it has changed.

Country, Missing, Road, Saw, Sports

I don't do social media of any kind. If I did, I may as well join Scientology.

Kind, May, Media, Scientology, Social

The fact that few painter-fine-artists used photography in their work made it appealing.

Artist, Fact, Facts, Photography, Used

When I began painting, all my paintings were of words which were gutteral utterances like Smash, Boss, Eat. Those words were like flowers in a vase.

Boss, Eat, Flower, Painting, Utterance, Utterances

When I first did the book on gasoline stations, people would look at it and say, Are you kidding or what? Why are you doing this? In a sense, that's what I was after: I was after the head-scratching.

Book, Kidding, Look, Looks, People, Sense

I'm interested in glorifying something that we in the world would say doesn't deserve being glorified. Something that's forgotten, focused on as though it were some sort of sacred object.

Focused, Forgotten, Glorified, Sacred, World

My pictures are not that interesting, nor the subject matter. They are simply a collection of facts; my book is more like a collection of Ready-mades.

Book, Collection, Interesting, Matter, Pictures

I believe in intuition and approaching things as instant gratification. Just do the things you want to do, make the kind of pictures you want to make.

Approaching, Believe, Gratification, Intuition, Pictures, Want

All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I've always had a weakness for heroic imagery.

American, Artistic, Heroic, Imagery, Weakness

I was attracted to the concept of Hollywood and the lifestyle here. But I've grown to mistrust it because it has changed. I didn't bargain for digital access parking in some concrete structure. Real heaven for me was to drive somewhere and park right in front. Now the city is going vertical.

Cities, Drive, Front, Heaven, Mistrust, Real

Above all, the photographs I use are not arty in any sense of the word. I think photography is dead as fine art; its only place is in the commercial world, for technical or information purposes.

Art, Fine, Photography, Purposes, Thinking, World

I was raised with the Bible Belt mentality, and by coming to California, I came out of this dark place and unlearned a lot of things I'd been taught.

Belt, Bible, California, Came, Dark, Taught

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