American Signs, 2009
40 × 39 inches (101.5 × 99 cm.)
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b. 1935
Robert Cottingham is an American artist known for his paintings and prints of urban American landscapes. Robert came into the world of art through his work in the advertising business, having served as Art Director at one of the biggest ad firms of the 1960’s, Young & Rubicam. Born in Brooklyn, he relocated to Los Angeles as a young man and found inspiration in the juxtaposition of a shiny, glimmering world against the decline of a city. The buildings and signs that marked businesses and landmarks throughout America have been a central focus of the work he has done throughout his life. He creates his works by taking photographs and transforming them through a multi-step process that culminates in the image becoming a painting – often with a slight modification to the original source material, such as changing the words in a sign.
Cottingham’s background in midcentury advertising is on full display in American Signs, featuring retro-looking logos and signs from around Los Angeles. He zooms in on small parts of the sign, giving them a particularly catching look, asking the viewer to guess what the location might be and whether they’ve been there.