59 Quotes by Edward Ruscha

Traveling is irritating to me, but not driving. Going to the airport makes me nervous, but when I set out to just take a leisurely drive, it’s blue skies and puffy clouds and time.

I was raised with the Bible Belt mentality, and by coming to California, I came out of this dark place and unlearned a lot of things I’d been taught.

Part of ego is displaying the ego. I’ve got ego, and I think I’m really good. But maybe I fall down in trying to sell it to people.

I was attracted to the concept of Hollywood and the lifestyle here. But I’ve grown to mistrust it because it has changed. I didn’t bargain for digital access parking in some concrete structure. Real heaven for me was to drive somewhere and park right in front. Now the city is going vertical.

Yes, there’s a certain power to a photograph. The camera has a way of disorienting a person, if it wants to and, for me, when it disorients, it’s got real value.

When I first did the book on gasoline stations, people would look at it and say, Are you kidding or what? Why are you doing this? In a sense, that’s what I was after: I was after the head-scratching.

All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I’ve always had a weakness for heroic imagery.

Most artists are doing basically the same thing – staying off the streets.

I knew I wanted to be some kind of artist from about 12. I met a neighbour who drew cartoons, and I had an idea I wanted to be a cartoonist – or something that involved Indian ink, at any rate.