ED RUSCHA collects antique bricks. In a corner of the 85-year-old artist’s airy, sprawling Los Angeles studio, Ruscha has arrayed his floor with red-clay blocks stamped with words and phrases that offer clues to their origins or intentions. A few marked PAWHUSKA and MUSKOGEE hail from towns in Oklahoma, the state where Ruscha spent his childhood. DON’T SPIT ON SIDEWALK dates from a Kansas public health campaign during the 1918 pandemic that warned people against spitting on public walkways for fear of spreading Spanish flu. Ruscha’s blue eyes crinkle as he grins and points to a brick stamped PRAY.

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Persons: Ruscha Locations: Los Angeles, MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma, Kansas