National Galleries of Scotland

This work is notably different from many of Ruscha’s works of the same period, most obviously in its exclusion of text. Yet Ruscha has created a bold image, with as much drama as his striking text works. A bright beam of light entering a black space has been created in pastel and zinc oxide, a whitening agent. An overall glow is created by the black pastel not being completely opaque, allowing the paper to shine through. In both subject matter and the title, there are obvious references to religion. However, it is also possible to relate the image to film, an important source of inspiration for Ruscha. He commented: “‘Hollywood dreams’ – I mean, think about it. Close your eyes and what does it mean, visually? It means a ray of light, actually, to me, rather than a success story.”