Today was the opening of the Art Institute of Chicago's new exhibit entitled Ed Ruscha and Photography! I had the pleasure of hearing Ed Ruscha speak at the free daylong symposium. He opened the symposium with a slideshow of past work as well as influetial objects and artists in his life. His opening was followed by several lectures later in the day. Thomas Crow, Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at New York University presented his own interpretation of Ruscha in the lecture titled, "Screen Memories in the Art of Ed Ruscha". Ken Allan, Assistant Professor of Art History at Seattle University spoke about "Space, Place & Spectatorship in Ed Ruscha's Los Angeles". The closing conversation between Ed Ruscha; Dave Hickey, Professor of English at UNLV; and Sylvia Wolf, exhibition curator; was one of the most memorable exchanges that day. Rather than describe Los Angeles, Dave Hickey said,
"Ruscha's photographs are of images of the fallen world. Instead of the lines of parking lots we see their stains and soiled grounds..."
Many subjects mentioned throughout the day include the palindrome paintings of mountains and text by Ruscha, as well as the influence that Los Angeles had on his work. Ruscha's accordion book
"Every building on the Sunset Strip" was discussed in depth as well as his photographs of parking lots, all to be seen in the show. It was a great experience to hear such an accomplished and important art history figure speak of his work today, and thanks to being a student, it was all free of charge!
An image of a portion of Ed Ruscha's book entitled, "Every building on the sunset strip"
Ed Ruscha standing beside one of his paintings.
A palindrome painting entilted "Lion in Oil" by Ed Ruscha
