Untitled (Ship)

During the 1980s, Ruscha turned away from words and refocused his attention on American iconography, often culled from Hollywood movies, and here exemplified by the silhouette of a ship that perhaps recalls the legend of the Flying Dutchman just as much as it does the image on the label of Cutty Sark Scotch whisky. With allusions to vintage photography, and a play on the word caption (here as blank or censored as the ship is generic), the artist manages to trigger associations, leaving them wide open for viewers to discern and interpret.