Among the art world royalty in London this week for Frieze Art Fair is American artist Ed Ruscha, for the opening of his exhibition of new works at Gagosian Gallery. Media-shy Ruscha gave a rare audience to Wallpaper* – while having a suit fitted on Savile Row.
Ruscha certainly has style when it comes to words and colours. His paintings put carefully selected phrases and American-isms (like 'oof' and 'honk') into new contexts, carefully designed to help us reconsider their use and impact. His works are famed for their elegance, exactitude – they're bold, confident messages about bold, confident American culture.
But does such an artist have personal style, in the sense of clothing? 'I wouldn’t call myself a clothes hound,' says Ruscha, while he attends his fitting for a very fine bespoke grey suit at Huntsman in London. 'For years I liked second hand clothing,' he confesses.
In fact the artist, always impeccable, looks really quite at home on his first visit to Savile Row. How does it feel? 'It feels like... fitting like a glove,' he says. In an unusual collaboration, the artist has agreed to make a limited-edition range of suits with the historic tailors.
While the tailoring will be left to the professionals, Ruscha has designed the suit lining. 'I like the idea of the concealed secret,' says the artist, indicating the loud message contained in his jacket's silky lining. 'You know that you wear the jacket and clothing like this but then there’s this surprise, almost like you’re flashing'.
The lining print is taken from one of the artist's seminal works from 1986, Boy Meets Girl, which is currently on show at the Gagosian. When asked if, nearly 30 years on, the painting still felt relevant, he said: 'Boys still meet girls and girls still meet boys.' The painting’s owner, actress Lauren Hutton, will own one of the Ruscha suits, as will the artist's dealer Larry Gagosian. The last suit in the edition of six will be sold at a charity auction in New York later this month.
The artist is typically unforthcoming on his latest series of artworks, which went on show today. The paintings take big, abstract themes – science, the universe, time – and play with language, and the associations and assumptions of scale and order that we make through words. He says, 'I call this show "Extremes and In-betweens". They are exactly that – extremes and in-betweens.'
While the tailoring will be left to the professionals, Ruscha, pictured with his son Eddie, has designed the suit lining
The lining print is taken from one of the artist's seminal works from 1986, Boy Meets Girl, which is currently on show at the Gagosian. 'I like the idea of the concealed secret,' says the artist, indicating the loud message contained in his jacket's silky lining
The Ruschas cut a dash in the limited-edition tuxedos
INFORMATION
Huntsman’s special edition Ed Ruscha suit will be auctioned at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association Rita Hayworth Gala on 25 October at Cipriani’s in New York. Proceeds from the auction will benefit Alzheimer’s research. To bid, visit the Rita Hayworth Gala website
‘Extremes and In-betweens’ is on view until 17 December. For more information, visit the Gagosian website
Photography: Iona Wolff
ADDRESS
Gagosian
20 Grosvenor Hill
London, W1K 3QD
-
Pharrell Williams’ latest Louis Vuitton show celebrates a ‘friendship for life’ with streetwear legend NigoLouis Vuitton men’s creative director Pharrell Williams looked towards his long friendship with BAPE founder Nigo to create a collaborative A/W 2025 menswear collection shown in Paris this evening (21 January 2025)
-
Think small, think electric, as Hyundai attempts to revolutionise the classic Indian three-wheelerHyundai’s Micro Mobility strategy, in collaboration with Indian manufacturer TVS, has revealed two conceptual takes on small electric urban transport in a bid to cut the country’s crushing pollution issue
-
‘Just beneath the surface there’s another world’: How David Lynch used hair and make-up to create his singular universeFrom Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive to Twin Peaks, David Lynch used hair and make-up in his films as a narrative device, writes Laura Havlin
-
When galleries become protest sites – a new exhibition explores the art of disruptionIn a new exhibition at London's Auto Italia, Alex Margo Arden explores the recent spate of art attacks and the 'tricky' discourse they provoke
-
'It's a metaphor for life': rising star and 'Queer' poster artist Jake Grewal on his new London exhibitionBritish artist Jake Grewal speaks to Simon Chilvers about 'Under the Same Sky' as it opens at Studio Voltaire in London
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: Tate Modern’s cultural shapeshifting takes the art prizeWe sing the praises of Tate Modern for celebrating the artists that are drawn to other worlds
-
Inside the distorted world of artist George RouyFrequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form
-
‘I'm endlessly fascinated by the nude’: Somaya Critchlow’s intimate and confident drawings are on show in London‘Triple Threat’ at Maximillian William gallery in London is British artist Somaya Critchlow’s first show dedicated solely to drawing
-
Surrealism as feminist resistance: artists against fascism in Leeds‘The Traumatic Surreal’ at the Henry Moore Institute, unpacks the generational trauma left by Nazism for postwar women
-
Looking forward to Tate Modern’s 25th anniversary partyFrom 9-12 May 2025, Tate Modern, one of London’s most adored art museums, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a lively weekend of festivities
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA week in the world of Wallpaper*. Here's how our editors have been entertaining themselves in the run up to Christmas
