News Release — March 12, 2009

Artist Ed Ruscha To Speak As Part of Harry Ransom Lectures

EVENT: As part of the Harry Ransom Lectures, artist Ed Ruscha discusses his life and work.

WHEN: Thursday, April 2, at 7 p.m.

WHERE: AT&T Conference Center, 1900 University Ave.

BACKGROUND: Born in 1937 in Omaha, Neb., Ruscha moved to Los Angeles in 1956 to attend the Chouinard Art Institute. He had his first solo exhibition in 1963 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. He shows with the Gagosian Gallery in New York, Beverly Hills and London. Encompassing photography, drawing, painting and artists' books, Ruscha's work has been the subject of retrospectives at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1983), the Centre Georges Pompidou (1989) and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2000). In 2001, Ruscha was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Letters as a member of the Department of Art. The following year a major exhibition of Ruscha's work opened in Spain at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. "Leave Any Information at the Signal," a volume of Ruscha's writings, was published by MIT Press in 2002.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Doors open 30 minutes before the program begins. No reservations required, but seating is limited.

This program will be webcast.

The Harry Ransom Lectures honor former University of Texas Chancellor Harry Ransom and highlight the Ransom Center's vital role in the university's intellectual and cultural life. The program brings internationally renowned writers, artists and scholars to Austin for public events and conversations with students. The lectures are made possible by the support of the University Co-operative Society.