Acrylic paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
ARTIST ROOMS
National Heritage Memorial Fund
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-ruscha-1882" aria-label="More by Edward Ruscha" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Edward Ruscha</a>
BLVDAVEST
ARTIST ROOMS
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
abstraction
aerial view
architecture
crossroad
emotions, concepts and ideas
formal qualities
from recognisable sources
lifestyle and culture
man-made
society
street
townscapes / man-made features
urban environment
<p>This image evokes the concrete and grid-like structure of urban Los Angeles. The large scale of the canvas also implies the vastness of the city’s urban sprawl. Abbreviations of ‘boulevard’, ‘avenue’ and ‘street’ are the only indications of a human element. In contrast to the grey hues, the bright orange and red of the horizon adds the suggestion of a Technicolor movie to an otherwise stark painting.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2019</em></p>
painting acrylic paint canvas
28 May 2011 – 29 October 2011
2011-10-29
28 May 2011 – 29 October 2011
2011-10-29
2011-05-28
Wolverhampton Art Gallery (Wolverhampton, UK)
http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk
2011-05-28
ARTIST ROOMS 2011: Ed Ruscha
Loan-out
30 June 2012 – 23 September 2012
2012-09-23
30 June 2012 – 23 September 2012
2012-09-23
2012-06-30
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (Bristol, UK)
http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk
2012-06-30
ARTIST ROOMS 2012: Raw Materials: Four American Artists, 1972-2007
Loan-out
22 February 2013 – 22 May 2013
2013-05-22
22 February 2013 – 22 May 2013
2013-05-22
2013-02-22
Hatton Gallery (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
2013-02-22
ARTIST ROOMS 2013: Ed Ruscha
Loan-out
29 April 2017 – 29 April 2018
2018-04-29
29 April 2017 – 29 April 2018
2018-04-29
2017-04-29
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, UK)
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
2017-04-29
ARTIST ROOMS Ed Ruscha
Collection based display
22 July 2019 – 18 July 2021
2021-07-18
22 July 2019 – 18 July 2021
2021-07-18
2019-07-22
Tate Modern (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
2019-07-22
AR Ed Ruscha
Collection based display
BLVD.-AVE.-ST.
support: 1782 × 2747 × 40 mm
<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a>
Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the <a href="/search?gid=999999967" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">National Heritage Memorial Fund</a> and the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 2008
<div class="text">
<p>Ed Ruscha’s <i>BLVD.- AVE.- ST.</i> 2006 is a large rectangular acrylic painting, with the majority of the canvas speckled in shades of pale and dark grey. Crossing diagonally from the bottom left to the top right corner is a thick, straight band of pale grey with the abbreviation ‘ST.’ represented parallel to it. Intersecting this band are two other, slightly thinner pale bands, running from the top left to the bottom right, with ‘AVE.’ and ‘BLVD.’ represented parallel to them. These crossing lines form a street view from above, with the end of the lines on the left side fading into the background, while on the right edge the lines end abruptly. Running laterally along the top of the canvas is a straight strip of speckled red and orange, which appears to mark the horizon.</p>
<p>Ruscha’s career began in 1956 with his move to Los Angeles, where he studied graphic design at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chouinard_Art_Institute%22 \o %22Chouinard Art Institute">Chouinard Art Institute</a>. Art critic Andrew Bogle has noted how Ruscha adapted the ‘virtues of advertising graphics, notably its techniques, its directness, clarity and economy of means … to his own highly individualistic style’ (Geldzahler and Bogle 1978, p.18). This method can be seen in the wake of his transition from advertising to fine art, most especially in the deft neatness of the typography and the precision of his lines. For the background of <i>BLVD.- AVE.- ST.</i>, Ruscha used an airbrush tool and acrylic paint in order to achieve what art historian Richard D. Marshall has called ‘phantom avenues spray-painted on grounds of modulated greys and blacks’ (Marshall 2003, p.237). While exhibiting Ruscha’s colour and technique, the large scale of the canvas also implies the vastness of the city’s urban sprawl.</p>
<p>Ruscha’s love of language, especially that of signs and billboards from highways and the inner city, can be seen in the common abbreviation and typographically stylised lettering of ‘BLVD.’, ‘AVE.’ and ‘ST.’. The viewer may not immediately recognise that this grid-like pattern is a street map were it not for the text. Marshall notes that this is similar to artists such as Piet Mondrian (1872–1944), whose grid artworks reveal their cityscape inspiration once looked at alongside their title (Marshall 2003, p.238). The words are indeed the only indication of a human element in Ruscha’s sparse cityscape: the image evokes the concrete and grid-like structure of the entirety of urban Los Angeles. In contrast to the grey hues, the bright orange and red of the horizon adds the suggestion of a Technicolor Western movie to an otherwise stark painting, a reference to the ‘old Hollywood’ aesthetic, as seen in paintings such as <i>Trademark #5</i> (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ruscha-trademark-5-t07510" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T07510</span></a>).</p>
<p>Ruscha’s fascination with, and interrogation of, urban and natural sites has been a concern throughout his career. This was initially explored in a series of black and white photographs entitled <i> Thirtyfour Parking Lots</i> 1967. The series consisted of aerial shots of parking lots in Los Angeles, exemplified by prints such as <i>Goodyear Tires</i> (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ruscha-good-year-tires-6610-laurel-canyon-north-hollywood-al00252" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AL00252</span></a>). These images act as more detailed and site-specific photographic precursors to <i>BLVD.-AVE.-ST</i>. As Marshall notes, Ruscha commenced a series of paintings in the 1990s which show the oversize, simplified street locations of Los Angeles from an aerial perspective, of which this work is one (Marshall 2003, p.182). In contrast with other landscape works by Ruscha such as <i>The Music from the Balconies</i> (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ruscha-the-music-from-the-balconies-ar01126" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AR01126</span></a>), a colourful stereotypical rural scene, <i>BLVD.-AVE.-ST.</i> appears anonymous, urban and almost abstract. Yet in both forms of landscape Ruscha maintains the specific West Coast pragmatism of his pop art contemporaries, holding a balance between the reality of the locale and stylised Hollywood depiction. </p>
<p>
<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Henry Geldzahler and Andrew Bogle, <i>Graphic Works by Edward Ruscha</i>, exhibition catalogue, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland 1978.<br/>Richard D. Marshall, <i>Ed Ruscha</i>, London 2003.<br/>Mary Richards, <i>Ed Ruscha</i>, London 2008.</p>
<p>Hayley Gault<br/>University of Edinburgh<br/>November 2015</p>
<p>
<i>The University of Edinburgh is a research partner of ARTIST ROOMS.</i>
</p>
</div>

Summary
2017-01-27T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<div class="text">
<p>This image evokes the concrete and grid-like structure of urban Los Angeles. The large scale of the canvas also implies the vastness of the city’s urban sprawl. Abbreviations of ‘boulevard’, ‘avenue’ and ‘street’ are the only indications of a human element. In contrast to the grey hues, the bright orange and red of the horizon adds the suggestion of a Technicolor movie to an otherwise stark painting.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2019-07-26T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
abstraction aerial view architecture crossroad emotions, concepts and ideas formal qualities from recognisable sources lifestyle and culture man-made society street townscapes / man-made features urban environment