Edward Ruscha (American, born 1937)
Scratches on the Film, 1993
Acrylic on canvas, 36 1/16 x 72 in. (91.6 x 182.9 cm)
Purchased with funds from the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Art Trust Fund, 97.2
© Eward Ruscha 1993
Los Angeles artist Edward Ruscha convincingly imitates the surface texture of an old piece of film, scratched and faded to a sepia color. Floating on the simulated celluloid are the final words of a vintage movie, "The End." The oversized, old-fashioned Gothic lettering summons the nostalgic romanticism of old movies, a mood complicated by the apocalyptic implications of the inscribed message and the creeping realization that the artist’s tone might well be mock-serious.
Ruscha draws on the power of cinema. In addition, by giving everyday phrases glorified treatment, he encourages a reconsideration of the complex relation between word and image, as well as between word and speaker.
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