Back to the Drawing Board - Ed Ruscha, Art, and Design in the 1960s

The first book to consider the importance of commercial art and design for Ed Ruscha's workEd Ruscha (b. 1937) emerged onto the Los Angeles art scene with paintings that incorporated consumer products, such as Spam and Sun-Maid raisins. In this revelatory book, Jennifer Quick looks at and beyond the consumer imagery in Ruscha's work, examining it through the tools, techniques, and habits of mind of commercial art and design. Quick shows how his training and early work as a commercial artist helped him become an incisive commentator on the presence and role of design in the modern world.Back to the Drawing Board explores how Ruscha mobilized commercial design techniques of scale, paste-up layout, and perspective as he developed his singular artistic style. Beginning with his formative design education and focusing on the first decade of his career, Quick analyzes previously unseen works from the Ruscha archives alongside his celebrated paintings, prints, and books, demonstrating how Ruscha's engagement with commercial art has been foundational to his practice. Through this insightful lens, Quick affirms Ruscha as a powerful and witty observer of the vast network of imagery that permeates visual culture and offers new perspectives on Pop and conceptual art.

Product details

• Authors: Jennifer Quick, Quick Jennifer
• Publisher: Yale University Press Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2022
• EAN: 9780300256925
• ISBN: 978-0-300-25692-5
• No. of pages: 208
• Dimensions: 180 mm x 260 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Art history; ART / History / General, ART / Individual Artists / Monographs, History of art / art & design styles, DESIGN / Graphic Arts / Commercial & Corporate, History of Art, Individual artists, art monographs, Illustration & commercial art, Illustration and commercial art