Brews, from the porfolio News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews & Dues

In 1969, Ruscha published Stains, a portfolio of seventy-five sheets literally stained with common household substances, housed in a black case with the title in silver lettering and Gothic script. One year later, he employed a similar conceit in terms of both typeface and materials in the portfolio News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews & Dues.Working with Alecto Studios in London, Ruscha selected rhyming words that “sounded British to me,” and printed a series of “organic” screenprints with inks made from commercially available foodstuffs, local flowers and fruits, and even axle grease. Reading like a grocery list, a roster of ingredients that make up each “dye” include brand names of the companies that produced them, underscoring the capitalist structure that governs consumerism of all substances, including seemingly natural ones. The muted hues (rhyme fully intended) at first appear to have faded from light exposure, yet the varying levels of saturation produced by the unpredictable inks are actually a palpable reminder of the artist’s conceptual experimentation, which can at times fly in the face of museum conservation concerns. (“All for One and One for All: Portfolios from the Permanent Collection,” co-curated by Andrea Inselmann and Sonja Gandert and presented at the Johnson Museum June 24-August 20, 2017)