VARIOUS SMALL BOOKS: Referencing Various Small Books by Ed Ruscha
Various Small Books: Referencing Various Small Books by Ed Ruschaneatly captures the books-within-a-book concept of this bibliophilic delight, a collection of cover and sample-spread illustrations (with dryly witty descriptions by Phil Taylor) assembled from the seemingly endless homages by other artists to Ruscha’sTwentysix Gasoline Stationsand his subsequent, similarly deadpan, photo books (including the classicEvery Building on the Sunset Strip). More than ninety examples are presented, from Bruce Nauman’s caustic 1969Burning Small Fires, whose images document the incineration of a copy of Ruscha’sVarious Small Fires and Milk, to more recent examples of books spinning off Ruscha’s seminal series.  —Christopher Lyon