Tate Liverpool reveals Ed Ruscha display for 2026

Tate Liverpool is hosting a new exhibition of work by influential contemporary American artist Ed Ruscha at its temporary waterfront home.

ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha is on show from February 12 to June 14 at Tate Liverpool + RIBA North on Mann Island.

The display, centred on the driving culture of mid-century America and the emerging architecture of Los Angeles, features books, photographs, paintings, drawings and lithographs.

Ruscha, who was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1937 and grew up in Oklahoma, is widely regarded as one of the world’s most important artists with a career spanning seven decades from the 1960s onwards.

As a teenager he moved from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles where he initially studied graphic design - and the 1,330-mile journey west through New Mexico and Arizona, along with advertising design and the Hollywood film industry (and indeed the Hollywood sign) have heavily influenced his work.

The Tate Liverpool display, curated by Sarah Happersberger, follows Ruscha’s drive through the vast open space and urban landscape of the USA. Taking his engagement with petrol stations as a starting point, it invites visitors to join the artist in looking at his surroundings.

What comes into view are parking lots and swimming pools, delis, diners, and nightclubs – buildings, facilities, and urban areas representing the ‘American way of life.

Above: A slideshow of images from ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha. Top: Greenblatt's Deli (Sunset Strip Portfolio) 1976 printed 1995.

His landmark 1963 book Twentysix Gasoline Stations, comprising 26 photographs of gas stations along Route 66, is one of several books which visitors can explore on an interactive digital in display. The same year Rusha developed a series of paintings based on the photographs of the gas stations in his book, creating monumentalised depictions of these typically American buildings.

Multiple sketches for the most famous of these paintings, Standard Station, is among the works on show at the gallery, revealing how Ruscha departed from the original photograph removing any unnecessary details, exaggerating the composition and imbuing it with an iconic presence.

The exhibition also features six monochrome images from his Sunset Strip series - which he captured by securing two cameras to the back of a truck and driving the length of the famous road; a series of vivid colour photographs of Californian swimming pools; giant paintings featuring Boy Scout Utility Modern, the typeface Ruscha created in 1980 based on the iconic Hollywood sign; a painting of the word Dance? created using coffee, egg white and mustard; and aerial photographs of early morning deserted Los Angeles parking lots.

ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha is at Tate Liverpool + RIBA North from February 12 to June 14 2026.