Ed Ruscha: it’s a name that’s synonymous with Los Angeles’ art scene. But what about the artist’s work with language? The current Ruscha retrospective at LACMA—Now Then—takes on big questions about the passage of time and the march of civilization, with special attention to Ruscha’s careful use of words. In her latest for Alta Journal, writer Hunter Drohojowska-Philp takes readers into Ruscha’s present and past with an in-depth look at the artist’s career. In this special episode of Alta Live, Drohojowska-Philp sits down with LACMA’s Rebecca Morse, one of the curators of Now Then, to discuss Ruscha’s incredible career, walk viewers through the creation of this extraordinary new exhibit, and take your questions on all things Ruscha.
About the guest:
Rebecca Morse is curator in the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at LACMA. Morse came to LACMA in 2013, having worked previously at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) for 14 years. Recent projects include Objects of Desire: Photography and the Language of Advertising (2022), which explores the ways artists have quoted and critiqued commercial photography. Morse was the cocurator of the exhibition Barbara Kruger: Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. (2022), co-organized with the Art Institute of Chicago. She organized the first large-scale museum exhibition of the work of Thomas Joshua Cooper, The World’s Edge (2019), and coordinated LACMA’s presentation of Sarah Charlesworth: Doubleworld (2017) and was a contributing essayist to a catalog of new scholarship published in conjunction with the exhibition. She also organized Larry Sultan: Here and Home (2014) and edited the accompanying publication. For MOCA she curated Amanda Ross-Ho: Teeny Tiny Woman (2012), Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder (2012), Rodarte: States of Matter (2011), The Artist’s Museum (2010), and Florian Maier-Aichen (2007). Morse coordinates the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department’s support group LENS, which visits Los Angeles–based photographic artists in their studios and acquires their work for LACMA’s collection. She received her BA in art history and fine art photography from Purchase College, State University of New York and her MA in the history of photography from the University of Arizona.
About the moderator:
Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, the author of Rebels in Paradise: The Los Angeles Art Scene and the 1960s and Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’Keeffe, has written numerous books and articles on modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on California and the West.•
