Ed Ruscha Books & Co is an exhibition of artists books by Ed Ruscha along with 100’s of other artists. Ruscha set about re-inventing the artist book from the ‘luxury status’ to an emphasis on the artist concept. His books were inspired by the slim inexpensive volumes that Ruscha encountered in European book stalls. His first book ‘Twentysix Gasoline stations’ was published in 1962 and subsequently met with indifference and rejected due to it’s lack of information but later attained cult status.
Subsequent artists have continued to reinvent the artist book. Bruce Nauman took copy of Ruscha’s book Various small fires and milk and photographed the burning of their pages.
Mark McEvoy produced a series of manipulated Ruscha book covers where he changed the titles from ‘Some Los Angeles apartments‘ to ‘Some losers apartment‘ and ‘Nine Swimming pools‘ to ‘Pissing in pools‘. Theo Wujcik created etchings of figures who had fallen asleep whilst reading Ruschas books.
Particularly in relation to an ever increasing digital world and the presentation of ‘art’ in digital format, there is still a desire for the tactile nature of a book. Many artists have produced handmade books which perhaps represent our love of the photo album as a keepsake or a collection of memories.
References
Gagosian. n.d. Ed Ruscha: Books & Co., Beverly Hills, July 28–September 9, 2016 | Gagosian. [online] Available at: <https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2016/ed-ruscha-books-co/> [Accessed 30 November 2020].
Landscape, Place and Environment 