In 1967 Ruscha adopted a new approach to drawing. He swapped his usual graphite for a fine powder made from gunpowder pellets, which he rubbed into the paper with cotton swabs, Q-tips, and various other implements. “Mistakes were easier to cover up with gunpowder, so I used it . . . It was a more fluid and a faster medium than charcoal or graphite,” the artist later explained. He produced a large series of gunpowder drawings featuring single words or short phrases composed as if formed from bent, coiled, or folded paper ribbon. These words are occasionally combined with incongruous elements, such as a flat, zigzagging pencil or puddle of liquid.
ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN, September 10, 2023 – January 13, 2024
Explore more
Edward Ruscha
American, born 1937 254 works onlineOnce, when asked about the abundance of text in his work, Ed Ruscha explained, “I just happened to paint words like someone else paints flowers.
Learn more →
From MoMA Design Store
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.