"I am not a big fan of meaning. Logic is also another nebulous thought. I attempt to bring threads of subjects, however shaggy, to my work and inject little suggesters to the picture itself, and this often puts a smile on my face."
E xecuted in 1985, Golden Words is a quintessential example of Ed Ruscha’s expert use of semantics in his practice to create works that are splendidly spellbinding and deeply captivating. Golden Words is part of a series of works Ruscha embarked on in 1985 after being commissioned to create murals inside the Miami-Dade's County Public Library. Within the library, designed by Philip Johnson, Ruscha created an impressive circular frieze with the painted phrase, “Words without thought never to heaven go'' – a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the present work, the phrase “Words without thought never to heaven go'' emerges from a golden halo that encircles the composition, standing in contrast to the vibrant and saturated crimson background. Taken from King Claudius’ monologue where he concludes: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; words without thought never to heaven go,” uttering these words as he meditates on his sins and comes to realize he has not been praying in earnest when asking God for forgiveness for his brother’s murder. An acknowledgement of the dual power of words, both for damnation and absolution, Ruscha draws on this Shakespearean aphorism, and enacts this significance further by isolating the phrase, employing it within the composition to create a spiritual landscape that conveys an indefinite sensation that is central to the artist’s practice. The letters ebb and flow rhythmically across the sheet, appearing suspended, almost trapped within a golden halo that represents an infinite cycle. Exemplary of Ruscha’s most iconic works on paper in which imagery and semantics coexist in an irresistibly seductive composition, Golden Words, brilliantly engages with and probes the interplay between image, symbol, and text.
Growing up in Oklahoma, Ruscha’s parents had a bust of Shakespeare in their home and were lovers of the literary genius’ body of work. It is undeniable that Ruscha’s love of word-play and semantics is deeply linked to his early exposure to Shakespeare’s writing. Like Shakespeare, Ruscha’s use of text is often cryptic and deeply cerebral. Isolated in Ruscha’s works, words and phrases are stripped of context, imploring the viewer to contemplate the transcendent power of language. While summoning relatable concepts and imagery, Ruscha infuses Golden Words with a mesmerizing ephemerality through his use of the halo, while, at the same t.mes , reminding us collects ively of our own mortality and questioning the infinite bounds of our own ability to perceive. Ruscha’s best works invite the viewer into an introspective quest that often evades categorization, a contemplative experience that is exemplified in Golden Words.
Regarding Ruscha’s Catholic upbringing, the artist has stated: “[My grandparents] were real strict Catholics. They were all raised that way and, naturally, I got this legacy of Catholicism that I eventually had to get smart and back away from… I think that I got distorted feelings about morality, maybe, and things that were put on me by the Catholic Church.” (Ed Ruscha quoted in: Richard D. Marshall, Ed Ruscha, London and New York 2003, p. 183). Ruscha’s use of the phrase “Words without thought never to heaven go” is thus rooted in Christian beliefs relating to forgiveness, lamentation and the concept of an afterlife. By juxtapositing a celestial golden halo that recalls Renaissance portraits of the Virgin Mary with a deep infernal red, Ruscha’s masterful use of color further highlights these latent religious themes. Ruscha effectively presents this dichotomy between figure and color to catapult the viewer into a philosophical meditation on existential concepts such as the truth behind words, the existence of heaven and hell and human mortality. Ruscha’s chosen text in Golden Words portrays a spiritual landscape that envelops the viewer with a lustrous glow that vibrates with visual intensity and conceptual vigor.
Ed Ruscha’s dramatic and seductive compositions are the result of his first road trip to California while on the way to art school from Oklahoma. The colossal billboards of de-contextualized words and a constant barrage of images, projecting onto the endless expanse of the mythical West, acted as a major influence on his visual vernacular and resulted in a career-long obsession with text and image. The boundless miles of the great American landscape not only became his main subject, but it triggered inspiration for his entire oeuvre. Ruscha’s words and phrases are stripped of context, imploring the viewer to contemplate the transcendent power of language. Hollywood and theater culture also impacted Ruscha upon his move to Los Angeles, an influence that is present in Golden Words through the theatricality of the text placement that recall the rotating banners of a movie theater.
Golden Words was created during one of the artist’s most.mes aningful decades of rising critical and commercial acclaim in which he was the subject of two solo retrospectives – one at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1983, and another at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris in 1989. Created during such an accomplished period at the apex of Ruscha’s career, Golden Words is not only a brilliant and incredibly captivating example of the artist’s genius, but also a test.mes nt to the artist's commitment towards the use of language as an artform. Infused with a mesmerizing ephemerality, Golden Words exudes a feeling of meditative bliss that can only be achieved through Ruscha’s master use of color and text, which have come to define him as one of the most influential Contemporary artists working today. Further emphasizing Ruscha’s importance within Art History, the artist will be honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York this September.
