Dimensions: 26 × 24.4 Inches / 66 × 62 cm Medium: UV pigment print with yellow silkscreen details and a matte varnish seal, printed on 410gsm Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White paper. Provenance: Individually numbered and authenticated with a bespoke artist stamp (lower right corner). Comes with original publisher issued certificate of authenticity. Edition: Limited Edition of 1863 Year: 2024 Condition: Excellent ABOUT THE ART Ed Ruscha painted Actual Size in 1962 at a similar time to sonic, one word paintings like Oof, Smash and Honk. In its use of a household brand, Actual Size also draws connections with everyday consumerism and with Ruscha's larger scale appropriations, like the Hollywood sign. The painting brings to life “SPAM in a can” – a phrase coined by journalists to describe astronauts sent to space in self-piloting rockets. Its title is lifted from the world of advertising, circling the true-to-life dimensions of its flying subject. These layers speak to Ruscha’s flair for dual meanings and deadpan humour. Actual Size plays an important part in the history of both Pop Art and Conceptual Art, propelling it to become one of Ruscha’s most iconic paintings. To coincide with a retrospective at LACMA, it has been transformed into a limited edition print. ABOUT THE ARTIST Ed Ruscha’s expansive oeuvre defies easy categorization, though it’s all infused with a kind of deadpan California cool. Since the 1960s, Ruscha has made photographic books, tongue-in-cheek photo collages, paintings, and drawings that demonstrate a keen interest in language and the idiosyncrasies of life in Los Angeles, where the artist has lived since the 1950s. In his most famous works, he places words and phrases from the colloquial and consumerist vernacular atop photographic images or fields of color—a strategy that situates him within a larger Pop art lineage. Ruscha often paints and draws with unusual materials such as gunpowder, blood, and Pepto Bismol, drawing attention to the deterioration of language and the pervasive clichés in American culture. Ruscha’s work has been exhibited across the globe, and the artist has enjoyed solo shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Moderna Museet, in addition to the Venice Biennale, where he represented the United States in 2005. At auction, his work has sold for eight figures.
