Different O’s

Artist Edward Ruscha (American, born 1937)

Date1989

DimensionsOverall: 39 1/2 × 53 1/16 in. (100.3 × 134.7 cm)
Image: 90.2 × 126.4 cm (35 1/2 × 49 3/4 in.)
Frame: 41 1/8 × 55 in. (104.5 × 139.7 cm)

MediumAcrylic on paper

ClassificationDrawings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1990.11

Not on View

Label TextLong associated with the pop art movement, Edward Ruscha (pronounced Roo-SHAY) has worked in multiple media, including photography and film, drawing, painting, printing, and artist books, with a deadpan sensibility. “Art has to be something that makes you scratch your head,” Ruscha said. Different O’s is a drawing of a smoky-dark, vaporous sky with oddly-shaped clouds. The title refers to the letter “O” which appears in each corner of the image. The meaning of the image is enigmatic. Each of the “O’s” is slightly different, with the most noticeable being the green letter in the upper right, which looks like a stitched monogram. Perhaps the differences are meant to cause the viewer to ponder the meaning of “O” or zero and its shape, which is unending with “nothing” in the middle. Because the image is riveting, it challenges the viewer to muse about deeper meanings.Published ReferencesRuscha, Edward, Paul Schimmel, and Thomas E. Crow, Ed Ruscha: Industrial Strength, Philadelphia: Fabric Workshop and Museum, 2008, p.40, repr. (col.) p. 41.Exhibition HistoryEd Ruscha: Industrial Strength, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA, July 14-Oct. 25, 2008.
TMA, Word Play (October 16, 2009- February 7, 2010)

Toledo Museum of Art, Looks Good on Paper: Masterworks and Favorites, Oct. 10, 2014-Jan. 11, 2015.