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F House

A work made of acrylic on canvas.
© 1987 Ed Ruscha.

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  • A work made of acrylic on canvas.

Date:

1987

Artist:

Ed Ruscha
American, born 1937

About this artwork

From his earlies experinces as a sign painter, Ed Ruscha delveoped an abiding interest in the visual and conceptual tensions between text and image. In the late 1980s, he produced a succession of airbrush paintings featureing nocturnal, silhouetted images dereived from photographs. F House can be seen as an exploration of the relationship between photography and painting; the block-style letter F that floats on the house may even allude to the f-stop on a camera. the superimposition of the red motif over the house could also imply surveillance by means of a telescopic lens, or perhaps even the stop of a gun. Suggesting intrustive examination and potentila harm, the image evokes scenes from Hollywood suspense thrillers and infuses a vision of middle-class prospertity unsettling, prehaps malevolent, overtones.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Ed Ruscha

Title

F House

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1987

Medium

Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions

116.8 × 203.2 cm (46 × 80 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Lannan Foundation

Reference Number

1997.153

Copyright

© 1987 Ed Ruscha.

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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