1990, Ed Ruscha, Sin / Without -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
From the museum label: In Sin/Without, Ruscha embraces his method of converting pop culture imagery into cinematic and typographical codes. The painting displays a simple word, sin, on top of beams of sunlight shining through clouds. Ruscha breaks apart the word—which means "transgression" in English and "without" in Spanish—by changing the size of its compositional letters, thereby challenging preconceived assumptions regarding language. The work also alludes to clichés found in pop culture and the deterioration of vernacular language.
1990, Ed Ruscha, Sin / Without -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
From the museum label: In Sin/Without, Ruscha embraces his method of converting pop culture imagery into cinematic and typographical codes. The painting displays a simple word, sin, on top of beams of sunlight shining through clouds. Ruscha breaks apart the word—which means "transgression" in English and "without" in Spanish—by changing the size of its compositional letters, thereby challenging preconceived assumptions regarding language. The work also alludes to clichés found in pop culture and the deterioration of vernacular language.