About this artwork

This work highlights Ruscha’s preoccupation with the symbols of American popular culture of the 1960s and 1970s, with the monosyllabic invitation to dance invoking light-hearted entertainment. An unlikely array of materials were used to create it, including coffee, egg white, mustard, chilli sauce, ketchup and cheddar cheese. These edible ingredients suggest the kind of foodstuffs that might be consumed in an American diner, and are in particular the condiments that accompany typically American fast food such as hotdogs and hamburgers.

Updated before 2020

see media
  • artist:
    Ed Ruscha (born 1937) American
  • title:
    DANCE?
  • date created:
    1973
  • materials:
    Coffee, egg white, mustard and graphite on canvas
  • measurements:
    137.20 x 152.00 x 2.90 cm; Framed: 153.00 x 167.00 x 8.00 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00046
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Ed Ruscha

Ed Ruscha