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

Quick, Jennifer

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

BOOKBack to the Drawing Board: Ed Ruscha, Art, and Design in the 1960s

Jennifer Quick

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23163

Ed 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.

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Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date May 2022 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300256925

EISBN 9780300272611

Illustrations 131

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Roof Top View #3
Well, back to the old drawing board
Drawingboard Drawing
Howard Krebs flat colors ad in Orb
Advertisement for Central Typesetting in Orb, detail
Advertisement for Central Typesetting in Orb, detail
Student-designed advertisement in Orb, detail
Student-designed advertisement in Orb, detail
Advertising design for Emerson's Bromo-Seltzer
Entry for Oklahoma City poster design contest
Record album design for Boston Pops Orchestra
Illustration of hand holding lead
Advertisement for CBS Radio, Annual of Advertising Editorial Art and Design (Art Directors Club of New York)
Illustration of layout tools and materials
Poster for film The Man with the Golden Arm
Great Ideas of Western Man, Coleridge
Logo and identity presentation for the Los Angeles Overhead Transit System
Aspen Balloons
Brochure for Hy Farber, Advertising Designer
Cover for The Main Stream of Music
Cover for A Guide to Contemporary Architecture in Southern California
Willem de Kooning-like drawing in Orb
Action Agency in Orb, detail
Action Agency in Orb, detail
Society of Graphic Designers, Orb
Sources and Resources of 20th Century Design
Sweetwater
Three Standard Envelopes
Sweetwater
Letter and poemcollage in Orb
Cover of Nekoosa News
The French Look
Design for a towel for Rose Marie Swimsuits
Falling but Frozen
Box Smashed Flat
Actual Size
Collage and notes
F-111
Magnifying Glass
Campbell's Soup Can (Tomato)
Spam advertisement
Spam
Oxydol
Spam Cut in Two
Spam Study
Spam Grid
Study for Box Smashed Flat (Vicksburg)
Noise, Pencil, Broken Pencil, Cheap Western
Pencil Studies
Pencil Studies
Cheap Western Study
Cheap Western, work in progress
Noise Study
Space Grid
Poster for 1963 exhibition at the Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles
Poster for 1964 exhibition at the Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles
Super Suds
Wonder Bread
Wonder Bread advertisement
enriched bread
Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights and Flash, L.A. Times
Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas
Tabletop Study with Life Magazine
Radio with Frames
Sunset Boulevard contact sheet
Page from Various Small Fires and Milk
California Polytechnic Pomona Communication Arts students prepare pasteup layouts
Every Building on the Sunset Strip
Twentysix Gasoline Stations
Twentysix Gasoline Stations, spread
Books by Edward Ruscha, sales flyer
Ed Ruscha and his camera assistant, Brian Heath
Documentation of July 1, 1973, shooting session
Sunset photographs taped together
Mock-up on wall in Ruscha's studio
Ed Ruscha and Joe Goode in Ruscha’s studio
Illustration of art direct working setups
Pasteup for Every Building on the Sunset Strip
Pasteup for Every Building on the Sunset Strip, detail
Press pull for Every Building on the Sunset Strip
After Landscape Manual
Dutch Details
Every Building on the Sunset Strip, reproduction
Spread from Thirtyfour Parking Lots
Nine Swimming Pools and a Broken Glass
Notes on book measurements
Study for Lemon Drops
Instructions for displaying Every Building on the Sunset Strip
Ed Ruscha in his studio
Book Layouts
Roof Top View #5
Standard, Amarillo, Texas
Flying A, Kingman, Arizona
Standard/Shadow Study
Standard Study [#1]
Standard Study [#2]
Gas Pump Nozzle and Hose Study
Standard/Ballpoint Outline
Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas
Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights
Trademark Grid
Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas
Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights and Parking Lines
Trimmed photograph of Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights
Trimmed photograph of Large Trademark with Eight Spotlights
View of the Big Picture
View of the Big Picture
View of the Big Picture
Textbook illustration for Krispy Crackers ad
Photo, Riot, 400 Books
Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half
Cheese Mold Standard with Olive
Burning Gas Station
Norm's, La Cienega, on Fire
Time Magazine Cover, 1965
708 S. Barrington Ave. [The Dolphin]
Some Los Angeles Apartments
1323 Bronson
Study for Barrington Avenue Apartment Building
Normandie
Aerial photographs of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art under construction
Untitled study for Los Angeles County Museum on Fire
Untitled study for Los Angeles County Museum on Fire
The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire
Perspectival analysis of Los Angeles County Museum on Fire (1965–68)
Study #1 for Los Angeles County Museum on Fire
Study #3 for Los Angeles County Museum on Fire
Blue Collar Tool & Die
The Old Tool & Die Building
Blue Collar Trade School
The Old Trade School Building

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Contents

Jennifer Quick

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

Contents

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23164

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Acknowledgments

Jennifer Quick

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

Acknowledgments

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23165

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Introduction: The Taskscape of Design

Jennifer Quick

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

From 1956 to 1960, during the years that he studied advertising design at Chouinard Art Institute, Ed Ruscha worked various odd jobs around the city of Los Angeles...

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.1-13

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23166

Chapter subject tags:Ruscha, EdwardDesign--History--20th centuryChouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles, Calif.)Art--TechniqueCapitalism

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1. Conventions: Art and Design in the 1950s

Jennifer Quick

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

In 1956 Ruscha left his home in Oklahoma City and followed Route 66 across the country, all the way to Los Angeles...

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.15-49

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23167

Chapter subject tags:Ruscha, EdwardChouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles, Calif.)Design--Study and teachingAbstract expressionism--United StatesCommercial art

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2. Scale: Pop, Painting, and Common Objects

Jennifer Quick

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

In 1960 Ruscha was hired as an assistant layout artist at Carson/Roberts, a well-known West Coast advertising agency...

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.51-83

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23168

Chapter subject tags:Ruscha, EdwardPop art--United StatesRatio and proportionCommercial artGraphic design (Typography)

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3. Pasteup Layout: Photographs and Books

Jennifer Quick

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

In the early 1960s, as Ruscha was making paintings of Spam tins and typography, he was also embarking on a new venture: the self-publishing of books...

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.85-121

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23169

Chapter subject tags:Ruscha, EdwardLandscape photography--United StatesArtists' booksCommercial art

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4. Perspective: Architecture and the City

Jennifer Quick

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

From the beginning of his career, Ruscha’s name has been synonymous with the city of Los Angeles...

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.123-163

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23170

Chapter subject tags:Ruscha, EdwardArchitectural photographyPerspectiveLos Angeles County Museum of Art

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Conclusion: Design and the Global Economy

Jennifer Quick

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

Over the course of his long career, Ruscha has proven himself to be one of the keenest observers of art and design’s multifaceted roles within a capitalist society...

Author

Jennifer Quick

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.165-169

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00335.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23171

Chapter subject tags:Ruscha, EdwardIndustrialization in artCapitalism

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