Lot Essay
Ed Ruscha is the quintessential chronicler of mid-century West Coast America and his iconic images have done much to define the idea of the West Coast for the rest of America and, indeed, the world. Along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Jim Dine, Ruscha's work was shown in the groundbreaking 'New Painting of Common Objects' exhibition in 1962, an event that gave birth to the "Pop Art" movement.
Since 1964, Ruscha has been experimenting with painting and drawing words and phrases, often oddly comic and satirical sayings. He became fascinated with the idea of stains after seeing oil stains on the pavement and seeing them as an indicator of how many cars had parked there. He took this idea and used a range of materials from Bolognese sauce and axel grease through to black currant sauce and mango chutney to produce a series of works examining the properties of these types of marks. In Sea of Desire, he uses hot sauce and moiré to examine the properties of each medium with the pigment of the hot sauce gradually merging with the fabric to create a unification of materials. The present work's combination of words and medium provides more questions than answers and results in a playful comment on art and society that so fascinated Rushca and inspired his work.
Since 1964, Ruscha has been experimenting with painting and drawing words and phrases, often oddly comic and satirical sayings. He became fascinated with the idea of stains after seeing oil stains on the pavement and seeing them as an indicator of how many cars had parked there. He took this idea and used a range of materials from Bolognese sauce and axel grease through to black currant sauce and mango chutney to produce a series of works examining the properties of these types of marks. In Sea of Desire, he uses hot sauce and moiré to examine the properties of each medium with the pigment of the hot sauce gradually merging with the fabric to create a unification of materials. The present work's combination of words and medium provides more questions than answers and results in a playful comment on art and society that so fascinated Rushca and inspired his work.