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Lot Essay
"The horizon paintings partially come out of long drives across the desert. Those are the kinds of drives I really get into. The vastness just asks to be filled with something, and those paintings are a lot about putting a voice into that vastness. When you are driving, you just start thinking about getting to the other side of the horizon—what city do I want to get to; where am I going?" Ed Ruscha
Ed Ruscha’s move West to Los Angeles was the start of his inspired and successful artistic career. The opportunities and ideas that the West had to offer were lifechanging and the big move was a step he knew he needed to take, explaining, “(i)t was always so attractive to me: the vegetation, the sunsets, the lifestyle, the jazz…. I felt: I want to be a part of that” (quoted in K. Breuer, et al, Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, San Francisco, 2016, p. 11). The 1950s was the start of back and forth travel from Oklahoma to Los Angeles as he pursued his education in the arts at Chouinard Art institute, taking classes with a focus in commercial art and graphic design. The back and forth long distance drives would become a major point of inspiration and productivity for Ruscha.
There's something about being on the open road that felt inspiring to Ruscha. The promise of new sights and experiences ahead was thrilling, and he felt a sense of excitement as he hit the highway. Driving 60mph down what looked like a never ending road gave him a sense of freedom and escape; a time where he could really let his mind wander. As the landscape stretched out before him, wide and expansive, he was able to envision future works of art. He found beauty in the emptiness and the isolation, and was able to focus on his creative process with no distractions. These long drives became a moving studio for him, as “The amusing words, puns, and nonsensical ponderings that described what he was seeing, thinking, or hearing on those trips were recorded on a notepad… suggest(ing) the curious thoughts of a long-distance driver on a journey through the vast western landscape” (K. Breuer, et al, Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, San Francisco, 2016, p. 13). These thoughts and words became the center of his pieces, making them unique from conventional landscape paintings.
Ruscha’s driver’s seat perspective influenced the composition and layout of his works, painting on monumental and often times horizontal canvases. Looking at such works is like looking at the land through a car windshield: infinite and daunting. The viewer is left with the impression that they are standing at the edge of the world, looking out into the emptiness. Furthermore, this panoramic view of the immense landscape mimicked that of a film screen, which Ruscha often acknowledged as another influence on his work, explaining, “(w)hen I’m driving in certain rural areas out her in the West, I start to make my own Panavision. I’m making my own movies as I’m driving… I get a lot of information out on the road that I use in the studio” (quoted in K. Breuer, et al, Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, San Francisco, 2016, p. 13).
Ed Ruscha’s 1982 painting, Nowhere, represents a turn to a nihilistic, more minimal style, in contrast to his brighter and more hopeful works featuring the Hollywood sign, which represented his journey to his dream in Los Angeles. In Nowhere, the road stretches out in a straight line, disappearing into the horizon, creating a feeling of endlessness and infinity. The lack of any other elements in the painting, such as trees or buildings, further emphasizes the sense of isolation and abandonment. His use of color in this painting is particularly striking. The dark sky and the black road create a sense of foreboding and uncertainty, while the warm orange glow of a distant streetlamp or the moonlight suggests a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak environment. The overall effect is one of tension and contrast, with the viewer drawn into the painting and forced to confront the emptiness of the scene and the desolate landscape with a single road stretching out into the distance, seemingly leading to everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The road, which leads to nowhere, could be seen as a metaphor for the aimlessness of modern life, where individuals are often unsure of their purpose or direction.
Nowhere is an extremely powerful and thought-provoking work of art. Through its use of color, composition, and symbolism, the painting explores themes of emptiness, isolation, and the search for meaning in modern society. It invites the viewer to reflect on their own experiences of isolation and disconnection, and to question the assumptions and values of the society in which they live.
Ed Ruscha’s move West to Los Angeles was the start of his inspired and successful artistic career. The opportunities and ideas that the West had to offer were lifechanging and the big move was a step he knew he needed to take, explaining, “(i)t was always so attractive to me: the vegetation, the sunsets, the lifestyle, the jazz…. I felt: I want to be a part of that” (quoted in K. Breuer, et al, Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, San Francisco, 2016, p. 11). The 1950s was the start of back and forth travel from Oklahoma to Los Angeles as he pursued his education in the arts at Chouinard Art institute, taking classes with a focus in commercial art and graphic design. The back and forth long distance drives would become a major point of inspiration and productivity for Ruscha.
There's something about being on the open road that felt inspiring to Ruscha. The promise of new sights and experiences ahead was thrilling, and he felt a sense of excitement as he hit the highway. Driving 60mph down what looked like a never ending road gave him a sense of freedom and escape; a time where he could really let his mind wander. As the landscape stretched out before him, wide and expansive, he was able to envision future works of art. He found beauty in the emptiness and the isolation, and was able to focus on his creative process with no distractions. These long drives became a moving studio for him, as “The amusing words, puns, and nonsensical ponderings that described what he was seeing, thinking, or hearing on those trips were recorded on a notepad… suggest(ing) the curious thoughts of a long-distance driver on a journey through the vast western landscape” (K. Breuer, et al, Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, San Francisco, 2016, p. 13). These thoughts and words became the center of his pieces, making them unique from conventional landscape paintings.
Ruscha’s driver’s seat perspective influenced the composition and layout of his works, painting on monumental and often times horizontal canvases. Looking at such works is like looking at the land through a car windshield: infinite and daunting. The viewer is left with the impression that they are standing at the edge of the world, looking out into the emptiness. Furthermore, this panoramic view of the immense landscape mimicked that of a film screen, which Ruscha often acknowledged as another influence on his work, explaining, “(w)hen I’m driving in certain rural areas out her in the West, I start to make my own Panavision. I’m making my own movies as I’m driving… I get a lot of information out on the road that I use in the studio” (quoted in K. Breuer, et al, Ed Ruscha and the Great American West, San Francisco, 2016, p. 13).
Ed Ruscha’s 1982 painting, Nowhere, represents a turn to a nihilistic, more minimal style, in contrast to his brighter and more hopeful works featuring the Hollywood sign, which represented his journey to his dream in Los Angeles. In Nowhere, the road stretches out in a straight line, disappearing into the horizon, creating a feeling of endlessness and infinity. The lack of any other elements in the painting, such as trees or buildings, further emphasizes the sense of isolation and abandonment. His use of color in this painting is particularly striking. The dark sky and the black road create a sense of foreboding and uncertainty, while the warm orange glow of a distant streetlamp or the moonlight suggests a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak environment. The overall effect is one of tension and contrast, with the viewer drawn into the painting and forced to confront the emptiness of the scene and the desolate landscape with a single road stretching out into the distance, seemingly leading to everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The road, which leads to nowhere, could be seen as a metaphor for the aimlessness of modern life, where individuals are often unsure of their purpose or direction.
Nowhere is an extremely powerful and thought-provoking work of art. Through its use of color, composition, and symbolism, the painting explores themes of emptiness, isolation, and the search for meaning in modern society. It invites the viewer to reflect on their own experiences of isolation and disconnection, and to question the assumptions and values of the society in which they live.