Edward Ruscha,, Standard Station

  I have a confession!   Pop Art is not my favorite.  When visiting a modern art gallery, one quick swing inside the Pop Art room will do it for me.  Although it was an exceptionally important movement in the 1960's, and it speaks to the commercial, disposable culture of that time, I am left not finding most images challenging in their own right.  But, this week, we have, what I think is an exception.  
   Standard Station is a color screen-print by the American artist, Edward Ruscha (1937 -)   He was part of the 1960's pop art movement but also experimented with a variety of styles and media.  Standard Station was done in 1966 and was created after a painting he did in 1963.  I have not found a reproduction of that painting, so we shall look at this print, instead.  He did do a series, but I found this one the most interesting.  
   The composition is extremely dynamic, it is hard NOT to look at it. The image is divided horizontally by the blue and the orange red, and the even split of the two equal triangles.  According to my reading this gas station image was taken from a station Ruscha had seen in Texas, and I believe we can see the influence of Andy Warhol and other pop artists.   
   Standard Station is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.  It measures 19.4 by 36.8 inches.  
Make Art a part of your day, it's a beautiful thing to do.


Comments

  1. Char HarguthAugust 10, 2020 at 9:09 AM

    At first sight this was "wow"! It would seem that the heavy left side would overbalance it, but the blue sky compensates well. His bio was an interesting read! He tried many odd media and thought he was born to "watch paint dry"! His images are all stark - clean and dynamic. How he could take something simple from life and give it emphasis is interesting. He puts the "Pop" in pop artist!! This was fun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Art Expert On LineAugust 12, 2020 at 8:23 AM

    Thanks! Love your comments, as always. I am so glad you checked out Ruscha and liked this image, as did I. It is a WOW!

    ReplyDelete

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