It Is Said
1984
Artist
- Edward Ruscha, American, 1937-
- Born: Omaha, NE
- Work Locations: Los Angeles, CA
Country
United States
Object
painting
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Accession Number
1985.13
Credit Line
Funds from Collectors' Choice VI, Alliance for Contemporary Art, American Art Foundation
Edward Ruscha
It Is Said, 1984
Oil paint on canvas
Funds from Collectors' Choice VI, Alliance for Contemporary Art, American Art Foundation, 1985.13
Dimensions
height: 84 in, 213.3600 cm; width: 138 in, 350.5200 cm
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Collection
Modern and Contemporary Art
This object is currently on view
Edward Ruscha has always been fascinated with words; those paradoxical combinations of abstract symbols and definite meanings which we use to describe the world around and within us. The painting It is Said has these words emblazoned against a mountainous landscape, but it leaves no clues as to what is said, by whom and why? Ruscha does not expect the viewer to interpret his work in any particular way: “I know that viewers of my work looking at an English word are going to try to translate it into a meaning. But often I’d like them to lose the meaning and just look at the word as an abstract jumble. Yet I’m not giving the viewer any guidance as to how to respond. I think the artist should stand by in silence.”
Exhibition History
- "Contemporary British Artists"--Denver Art Museum, 11/14/1998 - 7/11/1999
- "Retrospectacle: 25 Years of Collecting Modern and Contemporary Art"--Denver Art Museum, 11/16/2002 - 8/3/2003
