The Hole is pleased to present HOLLYWOOD DREAM BUBBLE: Ed Ruscha’s Influence in Los Angeles and Beyond, a group show by guest curatorial duo Jessica Gallucci and artist Dani Tull.
Ed Ruscha has occupied many roles in the broad cultural consciousness — foil to the New York-based Ab-Ex movement, a member of Ferus Gallery’s “cool school”, standard-bearer for Southern California and renderer of funny and oracular words in his Boy Scout Utility Modern font — but among artists, particularly in Los Angeles, he is known for his steadfast support of the scene. He shows up at openings: he collaborates, he collects and he donates. Hamilton Press, the Venice fine art printing company he co-founded, invites emerging artists to produce editions.
It is natural, then, that the exhibition began with a conversation we had with an LA-based artist and longtime Ruscha admirer, Ellen Jong. Jong’s wall works, which contain words formed from traditional Chinese ink congealed and sculpted into strips, were created in direct homage to the ribbon-like words in Ruscha’s gunpowder drawings. The show came together quickly and rhizomatically: a local network of Tull’s Ed-affiliated friends and collaborators opened up into a major group of people across the country who have been influenced by Ruscha.
You could scan the surfaces of works in this show looking for shades of Ruscha to find that his presence is just a proposition; the show’s titular “influence” encompasses direct quotations, tributes and choices in style and medium, as well as links that are more oblique or profound. Some works represent Ruscha’s involvement in an artistic cohort that extends from contemporaries, like Wallace Berman and Dennis Hopper; to family members, like his son Eddie Ruscha and daughter-in-law Francesca Gabbiani; to studio staff Senon Williams and Jason Mason, among others.
With more than seventy artists, this is not a “tightly curated” exhibition: neither could it possibly be a comprehensive one. HOLLYWOOD DREAM BUBBLE is just a piece of the discourse around the great artist’s reach and a celebration of his impact among American artists across generations. Two and a half miles away from Ruscha’s LACMA retrospective, the conversation continues.
—Jessica Gallucci and Dani Tull
The Hole, 844 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. thehole.com