Tate Liverpool reveals Ed Ruscha display for 2026

Tate Liverpool will stage a display by influential contemporary American artist Ed Ruscha at its Mann Island home in 2026.

ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha will be 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, will feature books, photographs, paintings, drawings, and lithographs.

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1937, Ruscha is widely regarded as one of the world’s most important artists with a career spanning seven decades from the 1960s onwards.

Ruscha grew up in Oklahoma and moved from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles in 1956 - the 1,330-mile journey heavily influenced his work.

The Tate Liverpool display will follow 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 will invite visitors to join the artist in looking at his surroundings.

What comes into view are parking lots and swimming pools, Deli’s, Diner’s, and Nightclubs – buildings, facilities, and urban areas representing the ‘American way of life.

His landmark 1963 book Twentysix Gasoline Stations, comprising 26 photographs of gas stations along Route 66, will be available to view digitally in the 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, will feature in the display, revealing how Ruscha departed from the original photograph removing any unnecessary details, exaggerating the composition and imbuing it with an iconic presence.

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

Top: Ed Ruscha's Standard Study #3 1963