Ed Ruscha: Roads and Insects

Small display at the British Museum to highlight their acquisition of six screen prints by Ed Ruscha called “Insects”.

The set of prints is from 1972 showing life sized insects resting or moving across the paper. They were detailed depictions of the insects in a minimal setting. They also showed the portfolio they came in which contained soil from Ruscha’s elementary school. I loved the detail which, as someone who doesn’t like insects, made you want to swat the surface of the work.

To bulk out the display, and to make the point that Ruscha often collects objects or categories in visual series, the portfolio was shown with sets of prints about roads. I loved his 2001 series of abstract, minimalistic imaginary maps.

Closed 28 January 2024


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