Light Leaks by Ed Ruscha

I recently went to Sotheby’s Contemporary Art exhibition and saw Ed Ruscha’s Light Leaks, which subsequently sold for $3,953,700 (more than the estimated price range). For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ed Ruscha, his paintings emphasize the ephemera of people’s lives, reference popular culture, and highlight particular phrases. In Light Leaks, Ruscha focuses on the words The End. Ruscha includes vertical lines that go through the words, and the letter “d” in the word End is much lighter than the other letters. These two words allude to the way in which many films – especially during the 1940s and 50s – ended their movies. The words The End would appear on the screen at the film’s conclusion and then fade away. Ruscha’s use of lines that go through the words emphasize the antiquated use of The End in old movies reminiscent of the scratches and dust often visible on the film. Carrying through on the older movie themes, Ruscha uses a font that is similar to the font used in classic movies, once again evoking the movies from the 1940s and 50s. Additionally, through the words “The End” Ruscha reminds the viewer that all stories have an ending, perhaps even referencing the finality of our own lives.

Source: http://edruscha.com/works/light-leaks/