"These gunpowder drawings are quintessential examples of Ruscha's singular manner of seeing as it had matured through the late 1960s. The lettering is three-dimensional, the modulated grounds are dramatic, the oblique angles are precise, and the framing is more sophisticated...Ruscha's translation of an abstract idea into a material but imaginary image endows these works with a mysterious, uncanny atmosphere."
E levating words and language to fine art, Ed Ruscha’s Me from 1970 is an outstanding example from the artist’s iconic series of gunpowder ribbon drawings. This celebrated series arose from Ruscha’s exploration of atypical mediums, leading to his realization of the forgivingness and graciousness of the mechanism of creation. Consisting of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate, the use of gunpowder applied gently with cotton swabs creates a dreamlike atmosphere surrounding the unfurling ribbon spelling out the work’s title. Regarding the process, Ruscha remarked: "it left a charcoal that had a kind of a warm tone to it, and it could be used in a way that was very easy to correct when you wanted to... And so it became a convenient material, and a material that I liked. It had a good surface to it” (Ed Ruscha quoted in Christophe Cherix, "Interview with Ed Ruscha," Oral History Program, Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York 2012, p. 42).
Among the wide variety of different variants and subsections of Ruscha’s word-based output, the gunpowder ribbon drawings stand out for their unbelievable ingenuity and tactile sensitivity. Among these works, Me excels for its evocative shadows and lightness. The work is further distinguished by its subtle introduction of color emanating from the lower half of the composition, as if in the presence of neon lights. Elegantly blending soft layers of red and yellow pastel with the deep black gunpowder, Me situates itself within a larger Pop Art lineage and references the Hollywood signs, billboards, and film credits that punctuate Los Angeles’ entertainment industry for which Ruscha is best known.
