You know those pictures all the cool kids post on their Tumblrs – the ones with a seemingly profound phrase overlaid on some nostalgic photo? If you ever wondered who’s to blame for this trend, you might have to look back a little further than 2009…
The very first of Ed Ruscha’s word paintings were created as oil paintings on paper in Paris in 1961. Since 1964, Ruscha has been experimenting regularly with painting and drawing words and phrases, often oddly comic and satirical sayings alluding to popular culture and life in LA.
So, yeah, Edward Ruscha’s been making those type of images since the early 1960s, only he didn’t use Photoshop. In fact, paint was also way too mainstream for Ed:
Ruscha experimented with a range of materials including gunpowder, vinyl, blood, red wine, fruit and vegetable juices, axle grease, chocolate syrup, tomato paste, bolognese sauce, cherry pie, coffee, caviar, daffodils, tulips, raw eggs and grass stains.
Here are a few examples of his varied typographic artworks:
1938
1958. Oil & pencil on canvas.
OOF
1962 (reworked 1963). Oil on canvas.
N.Y.
1965. Oil on linen.
Raw
1971. Ivy on sized canvas.
Pure Ecstacy
1974. Tea on moire.
A Blvd. Called Sunset
1975. Blackberry juice on moire.
SMELLS LIKE BACK OF OLD HOT RADIO
1976. Pastel on paper.
ARTISTS WHO DO BOOKS
1976. Pastel on paper.
Boxer
1979. Oil on canvas.
Friction and Wear
1983. Oil on canvas.
The End
1991. Synthetic polymer paint and graphite on canvas.
Tulsa Slut
2002. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas.
Pay Nothing Until April
2003. Acrylic on canvas.
DAILY PLANET
2003. Acrylic on canvas.
Find out more about Ed Ruscha and his work: