Inspired in part by the “sound of the number ‘26,’” Ruscha gathered twenty-six images of gasoline stations to populate his first artist’s book. He shot the photographs on the road between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City and captioned them plainly, lending the book a “factual kind of army-navy data look.” When the Library of Congress declined this perplexing publication in 1964, Ruscha took out an ad in Artforum magazine proudly announcing its rejection. The artist continued to catalogue everyday subjects—small fires, swimming pools, parking lots—in subsequent books, while a service station in Amarillo, Texas, became a recurring motif in his work across media.
Gallery label from ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN, September 10, 2023 – January 13, 2024