Now Open to the Public!
Wed-Sun, 11-5PM
SVMA reopens with an exceptional exhibition of books, prints, and photographs by the world-renowned American artist Ed Ruscha, on view through May 30, 2021. Rarely seen black and white photographs from Ruscha’s frequent trips between Los Angeles and Oklahoma in the 1960s reveal inspirations for his iconic images, which include gas stations, diners, and the streets of rural towns such as Amarillo, Texas, Gallup, New Mexico, and Winslow, Arizona. Travel Log contemplates Ruscha’s American landscapes as they appear and disappear in a sort of speeding highway zoetrope.
Travel Log features color lithographs from his well-known “word paintings” series that mix visual formality with playful language. The exhibition also includes a rare installation of 51 framed prints that Ruscha illustrated with original, commissioned, and found photographs and juxtaposed with passages from Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel, On The Road.
SVMA will observe strict public health and safety standards requiring masks to be worn at all times, and observing reduced visitor capacity and six feet of social distancing, among other measures.
Words We Travel: Poetry and The Road in Tribute to Ed Ruscha
In 2020 SVMA hosted a live webcast poetry series, Words We Travel, inspired by the art of Ed Ruscha. The poets and speakers selected for this series from across the U.S. also have labored over projects that connect the written word with photography, history, and personal-turned-epic journeys. The programs were recorded and can be accessed through the date links below.
OCTOBER 28, 2020
Sonoma to MoMA – Last West with Tess Taylor and Sarah Meister, Curator of Photography, MoMA
NOVEMBER 11, 2020
Poems, Photography, and the (Open) Road with poets Elizabeth Bradfield and Rachel Eliza Griffiths
DECEMBER 2, 2020
Bring it Home, Oklahoma with poets Jennifer Foerster, Dean Rader, and Nicole Callihan