American - Artist | December 16, 1937 -
The big pay-off was to work as an artist and gain some shred of respect from your friends, who were also artists. But there was never any notion that you could make a living out of art. On the rare occasions you had a gallery show, and sold a little work, well, that was just gravy.
Edward Ruscha
WorkRespectArtFriendsYouArtist
I don't do social media of any kind. If I did, I may as well join Scientology.
Social MediaMediaKindMayWell
All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I've always had a weakness for heroic imagery.
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When you're on a highway, viewing the western U.S. with the mountains and the flatness and the desert and all that, it's very much like my paintings.
MountainsDesertYouHighwayLike
I was attracted to the concept of Hollywood and the lifestyle here. But I've grown to mistrust it because it has changed. I didn't bargain for digital access parking in some concrete structure. Real heaven for me was to drive somewhere and park right in front. Now the city is going vertical.
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I travel a lot, but I don't come away with new inspiration.
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When I paint a picture of a house, that goes back to my roots.
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Basically everything I've done in art, I was in possession of when I was 20 years old. I use a waste retrieval method of working. I'll go back and use something that disgusted me 15 years ago but that I had enough sense to think about. Some artists change dramatically. I see my work more like history being written.
WorkChangeHistoryArtMeThink
When I drive, I check out everything I see, and just taking in all those observations helps me think. So I draw and write a lot as I drive, and I know that's dangerous, but I manage to do it off to the side, with my notes on the seat.
MeDriveThinkDangerousKnowSee
The one thing I miss is hitchhiking. Now there's no more of that. When's the last time you saw a hitchhiker? It's not that I consider it a great sport, but it was my way of seeing the country. The open road, especially in the western United States, is still very pristine, but everything else around it has changed.
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I wasn't captivated by the romance of Paris or London. I love visiting, but I'd rather be in L.A.
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I'm very stodgy. I'm always looking at old photos of California and Los Angeles, knowing that what I'm looking at is now full of houses. There used to be vacant lots in Los Angeles, now all taken up by three-storey boxes - it's all getting infilled.
LookingLos AngelesNowKnowingOld
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