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A Few Palm Trees
The images of palm trees, some squat, some impossibly slender, are cut-out from their surroundings and presented as if floating on each page. [Cited in Andrew Roth, ed., The Open Book. (Göteborg, Hasselblad Center in association with Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, Germany, 2004).]
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1971
About the author
Ed Ruscha
118 books20 followersBorn in 1937 in Omaha, Nebraska, Edward Ruscha was raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his family moved in 1941. In 1956 he moved to Los Angeles to attend the Chouinard Art Institute, and had his first solo exhibition in 1963 at the Ferus Gallery. In 1973, Ruscha began showing his work with Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. He continues to live and work in Los Angeles, and currently shows with Gagosian Gallery.
Ruscha has consistently combined the cityscape of his adopted hometown with vernacular language to communicate a particular urban experience. Encompassing painting, drawing, photography, and artist's books, Ruscha's work holds the mirror up to the banality of urban life and gives order to the barrage of mass media-fed images and information that confronts us daily. Ruscha's early career as a graphic artist continues to strongly influence his aesthetic and thematic approach.
Ruscha has been the subject of numerous museum retrospectives that have traveled internationally, including those organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1982; the Centre Georges Pompidou in 1989; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2000; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in 2002; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney in 2004; the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2004; and the Jeu de Paume in 2006. In 2005, Ruscha was the United States representative at the 51st Venice Biennale. Recent exhibitions include “Ed Ruscha: Fifty Years of Painting” (organized by the Hayward Gallery, London, in 2009), “Ed Ruscha: Road Tested” (at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in 2011), and “On the Road” (organized by the Hammer Museum in 2011). “Reading Ed Ruscha” is currently on view at the Kunsthaus Bregenz until October 14.
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Ruscha has consistently combined the cityscape of his adopted hometown with vernacular language to communicate a particular urban experience. Encompassing painting, drawing, photography, and artist's books, Ruscha's work holds the mirror up to the banality of urban life and gives order to the barrage of mass media-fed images and information that confronts us daily. Ruscha's early career as a graphic artist continues to strongly influence his aesthetic and thematic approach.
Ruscha has been the subject of numerous museum retrospectives that have traveled internationally, including those organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1982; the Centre Georges Pompidou in 1989; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2000; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in 2002; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney in 2004; the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2004; and the Jeu de Paume in 2006. In 2005, Ruscha was the United States representative at the 51st Venice Biennale. Recent exhibitions include “Ed Ruscha: Fifty Years of Painting” (organized by the Hayward Gallery, London, in 2009), “Ed Ruscha: Road Tested” (at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in 2011), and “On the Road” (organized by the Hammer Museum in 2011). “Reading Ed Ruscha” is currently on view at the Kunsthaus Bregenz until October 14.
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August 20, 2025
My Ed Ruscha artist book adventures continue with A Few Palm Trees - a charming collection of palm trees of various types completely isolated from their background. Well, come to think of it, it wasn't really charming so much as kinda creepy with all the trees flying (hmmm, looming?) on the pages out of context. Amusingly, the artist did tell us the camera was pointed west for all the photos, so I guess I appreciated that hint. Of course, he gave up at a certain point and the final portion of the book consists of blank pages. LOL!
And completely separate from the book itself is the story of these books in my university library. For the longest time these were located in the open stacks (gasp!) for the riff raff to use willy-nilly (they're still in decent enough shape for circulating 20 or so years before getting locked up in special collections). But the really hilarious part is how my library classified a number of these Ed Ruscha books based on the subjects being photographed. Hahahahaha! So while the fancy libraries classified this into photography, mine put it in agriculture (LC class SB). I say again, hahahahahahaha! That parking lots book got put into transportation (LC class HE).
All of which explains why this is my ongoing adventures of Ed Ruscha books, browsing did not bring some of them to my attention because they were scattered all about. Hahahahaha!
And completely separate from the book itself is the story of these books in my university library. For the longest time these were located in the open stacks (gasp!) for the riff raff to use willy-nilly (they're still in decent enough shape for circulating 20 or so years before getting locked up in special collections). But the really hilarious part is how my library classified a number of these Ed Ruscha books based on the subjects being photographed. Hahahahaha! So while the fancy libraries classified this into photography, mine put it in agriculture (LC class SB). I say again, hahahahahahaha! That parking lots book got put into transportation (LC class HE).
All of which explains why this is my ongoing adventures of Ed Ruscha books, browsing did not bring some of them to my attention because they were scattered all about. Hahahahaha!
Displaying 1 of 1 review