Twentysix Gasoline Stations
Edward Ruscha
1963
Twentysix Gasoline Stations
Twentysix Gasoline Stations
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Much has been written about Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Ed Ruscha’s first publication.  A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped ...
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Twentysix Gasoline Stations
Edward Ruscha
1963
Los Angeles: A National Excelsior Publication
Unpaginated [48 pages]
17.9 × 14 cm
Edition of 400; hand-numbered in red 359/400

Much has been written about Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Ed Ruscha’s first publication.  A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped establish the artist’s book as an inexpensive art form. Ruscha’s publications of the 1960s were conceived as conceptual propositions, characterized by the interplay of abundant imagery, minimal captions, and the use of “text as image” on their covers.


 


Twentysix Gasoline Stations embodies this approach. Its deliberately neutral photographs, restrained typography, and sequential format transform the ordinary into the subject of an artist’s book and, at the same time, challenge the conventional notions of artistic hierarchy and uniqueness. The book records, in photographs, twenty-six petrol stations along the legendary Route 66, the road that often brought the artist home from his adopted Los Angeles to his hometown in Oklahoma. More than a pictorial road trip, the publication constitutes a statement for the democratization of the art object, rendering the artist’s book both collectible and affordable.


 


The present copy is hand-numbered in red, 359/400. In an interview with John Coplans, Ruscha reflected on this aspect of the publication:


 


“One mistake I made in Twentysix Gasoline Stations was in numbering the books. I was testing, at that time, that each copy a person might buy would have an individual place in the edition. I don’t want that now.” (Artforum, February 1965)


 


The subsequent publications were no longer numbered and were only rarely signed.

Los Angeles: A National Excelsior Publication
Unpaginated [48 pages]
17.9 × 14 cm
Edition of 400; hand-numbered in red 359/400

Much has been written about Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Ed Ruscha’s first publication.  A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped establish the artist’s book as an inexpensive art form. Ruscha’s publications of the 1960s were conceived as conceptual propositions, characterized by the interplay of abundant imagery, minimal captions, and the use of “text as image” on their covers.

 

Twentysix Gasoline Stations embodies this approach. Its deliberately neutral photographs, restrained typography, and sequential format transform the ordinary into the subject of an artist’s book and, at the same time, challenge the conventional notions of artistic hierarchy and uniqueness. The book records, in photographs, twenty-six petrol stations along the legendary Route 66, the road that often brought the artist home from his adopted Los Angeles to his hometown in Oklahoma. More than a pictorial road trip, the publication constitutes a statement for the democratization of the art object, rendering the artist’s book both collectible and affordable.

 

The present copy is hand-numbered in red, 359/400. In an interview with John Coplans, Ruscha reflected on this aspect of the publication:

 

“One mistake I made in Twentysix Gasoline Stations was in numbering the books. I was testing, at that time, that each copy a person might buy would have an individual place in the edition. I don’t want that now.” (Artforum, February 1965)

 

The subsequent publications were no longer numbered and were only rarely signed.

DESCRIPTION

Much has been written about Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Ed Ruscha’s first publication.  A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped establish the artist’s book as an inexpensive art form. Ruscha’s publications of the 1960s were conceived as conceptual propositions, characterized by the interplay of abundant imagery, minimal captions, and the use of “text as image” on their covers.

 

Twentysix Gasoline Stations embodies this approach. Its deliberately neutral photographs, restrained typography, and sequential format transform the ordinary into the subject of an artist’s book and, at the same time, challenge the conventional notions of artistic hierarchy and uniqueness. The book records, in photographs, twenty-six petrol stations along the legendary Route 66, the road that often brought the artist home from his adopted Los Angeles to his hometown in Oklahoma. More than a pictorial road trip, the publication constitutes a statement for the democratization of the art object, rendering the artist’s book both collectible and affordable.

 

The present copy is hand-numbered in red, 359/400. In an interview with John Coplans, Ruscha reflected on this aspect of the publication:

 

“One mistake I made in Twentysix Gasoline Stations was in numbering the books. I was testing, at that time, that each copy a person might buy would have an individual place in the edition. I don’t want that now.” (Artforum, February 1965)

 

The subsequent publications were no longer numbered and were only rarely signed.

Los Angeles: A National Excelsior Publication
Unpaginated [48 pages]
17.9 × 14 cm
Edition of 400; hand-numbered in red 359/400

Much has been written about Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Ed Ruscha’s first publication.  A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped establish the artist’s book as an inexpensive art form. Ruscha’s publications of the 1960s were conceived as conceptual propositions, characterized by the interplay of abundant imagery, minimal captions, and the use of “text as image” on their covers.

 

Twentysix Gasoline Stations embodies this approach. Its deliberately neutral photographs, restrained typography, and sequential format transform the ordinary into the subject of an artist’s book and, at the same time, challenge the conventional notions of artistic hierarchy and uniqueness. The book records, in photographs, twenty-six petrol stations along the legendary Route 66, the road that often brought the artist home from his adopted Los Angeles to his hometown in Oklahoma. More than a pictorial road trip, the publication constitutes a statement for the democratization of the art object, rendering the artist’s book both collectible and affordable.

 

The present copy is hand-numbered in red, 359/400. In an interview with John Coplans, Ruscha reflected on this aspect of the publication:

 

“One mistake I made in Twentysix Gasoline Stations was in numbering the books. I was testing, at that time, that each copy a person might buy would have an individual place in the edition. I don’t want that now.” (Artforum, February 1965)

 

The subsequent publications were no longer numbered and were only rarely signed.

MORE BOOKS

Much has been written about Twentysix Gasoline Stations, Ed Ruscha’s first publication.  A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped establish the artist’s book as an inexpensive art form. Ruscha’s publications of the 1960s were conceived as conceptual propositions, characterized by the interplay of abundant imagery, minimal captions, and the use of “text as image” on their covers.

 

Twentysix Gasoline Stations embodies this approach. Its deliberately neutral photographs, restrained typography, and sequential format transform the ordinary into the subject of an artist’s book and, at the same time, challenge the conventional notions of artistic hierarchy and uniqueness. The book records, in photographs, twenty-six petrol stations along the legendary Route 66, the road that often brought the artist home from his adopted Los Angeles to his hometown in Oklahoma. More than a pictorial road trip, the publication constitutes a statement for the democratization of the art object, rendering the artist’s book both collectible and affordable.

 

The present copy is hand-numbered in red, 359/400. In an interview with John Coplans, Ruscha reflected on this aspect of the publication:

 

“One mistake I made in Twentysix Gasoline Stations was in numbering the books. I was testing, at that time, that each copy a person might buy would have an individual place in the edition. I don’t want that now.” (Artforum, February 1965)

 

The subsequent publications were no longer numbered and were only rarely signed.

MORE BOOKS