LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.- Long regarded as an American master, Ed Ruscha (b. 1937) has redefined the way we see the American urban landscape, and especially the city of Los Angeles. "Cotton Puffs, Q-tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha," the first museum retrospective of Ruscha’s drawings, highlights the artist’s genius for deadpan and wry juxtapositions of words and objects. Featuring more than 200 works from the past four decades, the exhibition opened at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) California Plaza (250 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles) and remains on view through January 17, 2005.

The exhibition is curated by independent curator Margit Rowell, formerly a curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, the Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. MOCA Curator Connie Butler is coordinating MOCA’s presentation.

The title of the exhibition derives from a conversation Rowell and Ruscha had during the show’s preparation, in which Ruscha stated, “You know, it’s just cotton puffs, Q-tips®, smoke and mirrors.” “Cotton puffs” and “Q-tips®” swabs refer to the tools Ruscha often uses in creating his drawings, while “smoke and mirrors” can be seen as references to the illusory quality of his work, as well as an allusion to photography. Ruscha has admitted that “seeing things photographically” has influenced the way he works as an artist.

Rowell notes, “Ruscha’s work includes paintings, photographs, prints, books and films, but his works on paper are perhaps his richest vein. Through his interpretation of cultural icons and vernacular subjects, such as the Hollywood sign, trademarks, and gas stations, as well as his renderings of words and phrases in countless stylistic variations, Ruscha proposes a modern landscape based on keen observation and wry humor.”

The exhibition includes work created since the end of the 1950s, made with both manufactured and organic materials, such as gunpowder, blood, fruit and vegetable juices, grass stains, and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, all applied with equally imaginative tools. Ruscha’s straightforward depiction of common objects has earned him a reputation as a pop artist, yet his interest in and use of language have aligned him with conceptualism. The words and phrases found in the drawings often give the impression that they were extracted from billboard advertisements or movie dialogues. Examples include "Standard" (1966), "City" (1967), and "Dirty Baby" (1977), among others, which reflect pop culture and phrases found in the vernacular of the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.

Born in 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Oklahoma City, Ruscha moved to Los Angeles in 1956. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts) until 1960, studying painting, photography, and the graphic arts. In 1961, Ruscha embarked on a career as an artist and produced enigmatic paintings, drawings, and photographic books of gasoline stations, apartment buildings, palm trees, and vacant lots. Ruscha is now recognized as one of our most important and influential contemporary American artists.

"Cotton Puffs, Q-tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha," published to accompany Ruscha’s first museum retrospective of drawings, showcases his singular vision and his wide range of highly personal media and techniques. The catalogue includes essays by Margit Rowell and MOCA Curator Connie Butler. Featuring 251 illustrations (204 in full color), the 260-page catalogue is published by the Whitney Museum of American Art and distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and Steidl. The catalogue is available in the MOCA Store for $45.

"Cotton Puffs, Q-tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha" was previously on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art and will travel to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (February 13–May 30, 2005).

"Cotton Puffs, Q-tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha" was organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. This project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services by an Act of Congress. Q-tips® is a registered trademark of Chesebrough-Pond’s Inc. The Los Angeles presentation is made possible by The Neuberger Berman Foundation, which is funded by Neuberger Berman, a Lehman Brothers Company. Generous additional support is provided by The Brotman Foundation of California; Audrey M. Irmas; The Jamie and Steve Tisch Foundation; The MOCA Contemporaries; Gilbert B. Friesen; Lenore S.and Bernard A. Greenberg; Peter A. Morton; Betye Monell Burton; and East West Bank. The Millennium Biltmore is MOCA’s Official Hotel. KCRW is the Official Media Sponsor of MOCA.

Additional Installation - In addition to the exhibition, MOCA will reconstruct Ruscha’s "Chocolate Room" (1970), a recent acquisition for the permanent collection. Chocolate Room consists of 360 sheets of paper printed with chocolate through open silk-screens and hung on the wall like shingles. Together the visual impact of the rich velvet-like surfaces and the overwhelming smell of chocolate create an environment that stimulates the senses. The work debuted at the 35th Venice Biennale’s American Pavilion at the in 1970, and was reconstructed in 1995 for MOCA’s historical survey of conceptual art, "1965–1975: Reconsidering the Object of Art." MOCA deeply values its close and longstanding relationship with Ruscha. In addition to featuring his work in numerous group exhibitions since 1983, the museum presented a 20-year survey of his work in 1990 (organized by the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam).