Ed Ruscha: Zoot Soot
Printed in Los Angeles by Modern Multiples Fine Art Editions on watercolor paper in thirty-five colors, in thirty-five runs, from thirty-five screens, Ed Ruscha’s screen print Zoot Soot combines a photographic representation of a quintessential California skyscape with an image of a 2015 edition by the artist in which the title phrase is die-cut from handmade paper flecked with colored threads. Exemplifying the “sunshine noir” aesthetic often identified with postwar LA art, this screen print showcases the palm trees and brilliant skies of Ruscha’s adopted hometown, while the phrase recalls the city’s “Zoot Suit” race riots of 1943.