ARTS 105 – Artist Report Instructions And A Sample Report on Ed Ruscha

ARTS 105 – Artist Report Instructions

The student will write a 2-page research-based paper on 1 of the following artists

  • Jacob Lawrence
  • Susan Rothenberg
  • Albrecht Dürer
  • Rembrandt Van Rijn
  • Philip Guston
  • Ed Ruscha
  • Mary Cassatt
  • Channing Hansen

The research paper must include at least 3 scholarly references in addition to the course textbooks and the Bible.

Paper Instructions

The format for the paper must follow the basic guidelines below:

  • Title Page: Include an image of your chosen artist’s work, as well as the year created, title of the work, medium, dimensions, and current location of the work.
  • Artist Biography: Include their year of birth/death, place of birth, family history, institutions of study, and biographical information of importance.
  • Art Movement: What art movement is the artist associated with? Describe the tenets that define that particular art movement.
  • Art Critics: What do art historians, art professionals and/or art critics say about your chosen artist and their body of work?
  • Personal Thoughts and Conclusion: What are your thoughts about the work? Some suggestions to write to about: Do you like or dislike the work? Why or why not? Are there any spiritual aspects to the work? Does the work evoke any feeling or emotion in the viewer? Does the work stimulate your intellect? What are the strengths/weaknesses of the artists body of work.

Ed Ruscha – Artist Report

Ed Ruscha Artwork: Fruit-Metrecal Hollywood

This artwork is one of the most well-known from Ed Ruscha. It is a 3 color screen print in apricot jam, Metrecal soda and grape on Copperplate Deluxe paper. The artwork’s dimensions are 16.5 inches by 43.875 inches. The Fruit-Metrecal Hollywoodwas created in 1971. It is dated and signed in pencil, and is framed (Maccarelli, Brown & Eng). The artwork has been reproduced and framed by various organizations, and is currently available in many art shops and museums, including Getty Research Institute and J. Paul Getty Museum.

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Ed Ruscha Biography

Ed Ruscha, officially known as Edward Joseph Ruscha IV, is an American artist whose work falls in the pop art movement. He was born in 1937 in Omaha, Nebrasca, United States. He was born into a Roman Catholic family, and his mother supported his artistic skills from an early age. In his childhood, he loved cartoon programs and studying comic books (Quick). He moved to Los Angeles in 1956, where he enrolled in Chouinard Art Institute, which is now known as California Institute of the Arts. While at Chouinard Art Institute, he studied art under Emerson Woelffer and Robert Irwin. He gained prominence in the 1960s through his collages, paintings, and photographs.

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Art Movement: Pop Art

Pop art movement is one of the most recent in regards to development of artistic works such as drawings and paintings. This art movement emerged in the mid 1950s. One of the main elements of pop art is the use of images from popular culture, such as comic books (Florea et al.). The most notable aim of pop art is the employment of imagery of popular culture in art, and often makes use of irony. Most of the imageries that are used in pop art are normally obtained from current advertising themes. The rendering of the art is done though mechanical means of production.

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Art Critics

Ed Ruscha has been widely recognized not only in the pop art movement, but also in all areas of art in general. Muralist Kent Twitchell honored Ruscha and his works by painting an 11,000-square-foot mural in Los Angeles. Prominent people, like the novelist J.G Ballard, have described Ed Ruscha’s works as having a significant place in America’s art. Some of his works have been highly valued to a point that President Obama presented some of his paintings to the Prime Minister of England and Prime Minister of Australia on their state visits to the US.

Personal Thoughts

In my study of Ed Ruscha and his works, I am very impressed by the fact he contributed immensely to the pop art movement. His artworks are very unique and can be used by other artists to improve their craft. I liked Fruit-Metrecal Hollywood artwork because it representative of the current cultural phenomena, where Hollywood popular culture is represented. This also appreciates the fact that Hollywood has contributed a lot in the shaping and exporting American culture to other countries across the world. The artwork does not have any spiritual elements, and elicited a happy feeling in me while I examined it. 

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Conclusion

In conclusion, it is apparent that Ed Ruscha has made significant contributions to the era of pop art. His incorporation of modern themes in his artworks gives credit to the fact that art can be used as a mirror of the society.  Fruit-Metrecal Hollywood painting stands out as one of the most significant images in modern times.

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