Edward Ruscha’s DOUBLE AMERICANISMS are connected to the artist’s memories of Oklahoma City, where he grew up partly. It’s about the midwestern city’s distinctive slang: used parchment drumheads are inscribed with sayings using double negation – “I Ain’t Telling You No Lie,” for example, and “I Can’t Find My Keys Nowhere.” That’s how people used to speak around Ruscha (and some still do), and rather than disavowing them as incorrect English, he picks up on them and makes them part of his art practice. This way, Ruscha makes connections between his curious teenage mind and who he is now as an established (still curious) artist whose works are highly priced and in demand.
“I Ain’t Telling You No Lie.”
“I Can’t Find My Keys Nowhere.”
Language, in the form of texts or individual words, featured in Ruscha’s visual art from an early stage. Since the 1960s, his paintings have revealed an increasingly intricate interplay between image and text. He says that making art is a reaction, almost an automatic reflex, often triggered by overheard phrases, and the selection of works presented here in Double Americanisms emphasises the vital role that vernacular language plays in his art. Most of the works in this book are concerned with words and visual storytelling, often incorporating entire sentences or fragments of communication that can be commercial or plain, everyday language. This approach defines most of the numerous books he has created, either independently or in collaboration with others, showcasing his inspiring oeuvre.
Central to this book is a series of six large-format pictures on fold-out pages. These are reproductions of three paintings depicting the star-spangled banner in various states, created by Ruscha between 1985 and 2017. In the first pair of mirrored pictures, the American flag waves with youthful energy against a radiant blue sky. In the second pair, dark clouds loom ominously behind the stars and stripes. In the third pair, a tattered flag against a black backdrop suggests a disastrous future for the United States of America.
Published 2018 in Berlin by Revolver Publishing in cooperation with Secession as exhibition companion. Small Quarto, unpaginated. Hardcover fully bound in publishers grey cloth. 124 pages, English, 8 x 15 inches (20.5 x 38 cm), ISBN 978-3-95763-416-0
