The crude phrase at the bottom of this painting forms a kind of palindrome—a word, verse, or sentence that reads the same backward as forward. Ruscha began exploring the concept of the palindrome in his work in 2002, a palindromic year. Emphasizing the objectness of the phrase as a thing that can be manipulated and inverted in space, Ruscha pictures the words against a Rorschach-like mirrored image of a rugged mountain, further underlining the symmetry of the composition.

Gallery label from

ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN, September 10, 2023 – January 13, 2024

Medium Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions 63 1/2" x 6' (161.3 x 182.9 cm)
Credit Gift of Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder and Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds
Object number 271.2002
Department Painting & Sculpture

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Edward Ruscha

Edward Ruscha

American, born 1937 254 works online

Once, when asked about the abundance of text in his work, Ed Ruscha explained, “I just happened to paint words like someone else paints flowers.

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