.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This work will be included in the forthcoming Edward Ruscha Catalogue Raisonné of Works on Paper, Volume II: 1970-1989, edited by Dr. Rainer Crone and Dr. Petrus Schaesberg.
Miniature America, 1982, is a rich example of Ed Ruscha's sublime and ethereal, yet distinctly American, pictorial space. Miniature America belongs to a series of works executed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, referred to by Richard Marshall as Landscape and Skies. Although both literal and figurative landscapes are consistent throughout Ruscha's oeuvre, it is in this particular body of works that Ruscha depicts natural, postcard-like landscapes to form the background of each work. This shift towards a figurative landscape adds a new dimension to Ruscha's work, activating a newfound narrative and dialogue between the text and the image.
Ruscha illustrates a brilliantly red Western sunset that gains a hint of depth and perspective as it joins with the Earth at the horizon line. The flat, slight graduation of color as the Earth meets the sky situates the viewers' perspective and creates a vast expanse of wide-open sky. Ruscha sets up the work by creating a gorgeous background for the text, which shifts the text into foreground of the work. For Ruscha, these landscapes offer nothing more than a platform upon which to highlight the text. "'I've always believed in anonymity as far as the backdrop goes- that's what I consider the ground or landscape or whatever it is that's in a painting.'" (E. Ruscha quoted in R. Marshall, Ed Ruscha, New York, 2003, p. 182). The words themselves, Miniature America, are illustrated in a square, non-descript font at the top left of the work and there is a diagonal line shooting down from the words to the Earth's horizon line, as if offering directions and identifying where on the vast map America is situated.
Ruscha has said that he is not interested in creating explicitly political works, but in the current cynical, post-9/11 world, it is hard not to view Miniature America as a direct comment on the current urgency and relevancy of globalization. In the second half of the 20th century, America ballooned as the world's superpower and being American grew to be an all-consuming identity. Ruscha can certainly identify with this sentiment and it resonates loudly in his body of work. Miniature America very successfully expresses the love Ruscha feels for his country, but also his poignant awareness of the illusion of grandeur that is associated with it.
Miniature America, 1982, is a rich example of Ed Ruscha's sublime and ethereal, yet distinctly American, pictorial space. Miniature America belongs to a series of works executed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, referred to by Richard Marshall as Landscape and Skies. Although both literal and figurative landscapes are consistent throughout Ruscha's oeuvre, it is in this particular body of works that Ruscha depicts natural, postcard-like landscapes to form the background of each work. This shift towards a figurative landscape adds a new dimension to Ruscha's work, activating a newfound narrative and dialogue between the text and the image.
Ruscha illustrates a brilliantly red Western sunset that gains a hint of depth and perspective as it joins with the Earth at the horizon line. The flat, slight graduation of color as the Earth meets the sky situates the viewers' perspective and creates a vast expanse of wide-open sky. Ruscha sets up the work by creating a gorgeous background for the text, which shifts the text into foreground of the work. For Ruscha, these landscapes offer nothing more than a platform upon which to highlight the text. "'I've always believed in anonymity as far as the backdrop goes- that's what I consider the ground or landscape or whatever it is that's in a painting.'" (E. Ruscha quoted in R. Marshall, Ed Ruscha, New York, 2003, p. 182). The words themselves, Miniature America, are illustrated in a square, non-descript font at the top left of the work and there is a diagonal line shooting down from the words to the Earth's horizon line, as if offering directions and identifying where on the vast map America is situated.
Ruscha has said that he is not interested in creating explicitly political works, but in the current cynical, post-9/11 world, it is hard not to view Miniature America as a direct comment on the current urgency and relevancy of globalization. In the second half of the 20th century, America ballooned as the world's superpower and being American grew to be an all-consuming identity. Ruscha can certainly identify with this sentiment and it resonates loudly in his body of work. Miniature America very successfully expresses the love Ruscha feels for his country, but also his poignant awareness of the illusion of grandeur that is associated with it.