Pro tip: pronounce Ed Ruscha's last name right (roo-SHAY) and declare yourself an art insider.

Just an Omaha boy with California dreams, Ruscha moved to LA in the early '60s to attend Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts). He and one-day musician and comedy writer Mason Williams road tripped to LA together from Nebraska. At the time, Chouinard was heavily funded by Walt Disney, who recruited many of its grads to animate for his studios. In fact, Ruscha only got his father’s blessing to attend art school because of the likelihood of becoming a successful commercial artist--forget about gallery shows with Jim Dine and Andy Warhol.

Ruscha loves LA, and has lived there throughout its rise from tinseltown to art mecca. You’d think 1960s Hollywood would have been full of art collectors, but no, that wasn’t always the case. Ruscha and other big-name artists, including the guys mentioned above, had small shows together until their careers launched and the LA art world as we now know it was born. His work reflects the vibe of the city, taking graphic queues from film, advertising kitsch and the “heroic imagery” of americana.

Although a quiet dude, Ruscha developed a reputation as a ladies’ man (he was pretty dreamy in his younger days). His ex-girlfriends include models Lauren Hutton, Léon Bing, and movie star Samantha Eggar. In the end, Ruscha got back together with his first wife and baby momma in the late eighties, after nearly sixteen years apart.

Although it’s not true of all of his work, Ruscha was sometimes known for alarming material experimentation. He’s painted and printed with such unlikely substances as blood, caviar, and Pepto Bismol.