Ed Ruscha

Edward Ruscha, raised in Oklahoma, moved to Los Angeles in 1956, where he began creating monosyllabic word paintings, gas stations, sunsets, and the Hollywood sign. He studied at the Chouinard Art Institute under Richard Rubin from 1956 to 1960, while also serving in the U.S. Navy. Ruscha married Danna Knego in 1968, and their son, Edward Joseph Ruscha V, was born the same year. Despite a divorce in 1977, the couple remarried in 1987. They lived in a remodeled ranch house in the Santa Monica Mountains and maintained a large studio in Venice, California, and a getaway house in Palm Springs. Ruscha’s work, which blends language, popular culture, and unexpected materials, defies easy categorization.