The Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA) is opening an exhibition titled 'Ed Ruscha + Ron Cooper: Stations Words | Bars Cars' on May 30, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66. The show brings together two pioneering California-based artists: Ed Ruscha, a Pop Art progenitor and Guggenheim Fellowship winner known for his word-based prints and iconic painting 'Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas' (1963), and Ron Cooper, a founder of the Light and Space movement and creator of Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, whose minimalist plexiglass sculptures and vintage car collection reflect the car-based landscape of the open road. The exhibition includes four vintage cars from Cooper's collection, including a 1926 Ford Model T, and explores themes of travel, landscape, and the American West.
This exhibition matters because it connects the centennial of a historic American highway—Route 66—with two influential artists who have shaped contemporary art through their engagement with movement, space, and the visual culture of the road. By pairing Ruscha's iconic depictions of gas stations and text with Cooper's light-responsive sculptures and hot rods, the show offers a unique lens on how the American landscape and car culture have inspired artistic innovation. It also highlights Amarillo's specific place in art history, as Ruscha repeatedly returned to the city as a subject, making the exhibition locally significant while resonating with broader conversations about art, travel, and the American West.