Text-Based Art

“I’m dead serious about being nonsensical,” the Pop artist Ed Ruscha once said, referring to his practice of incorporating phrases like “Bliss Bucket” or “Wall Rockets” into his prints and paintings. Indeed, many contemporary artists have gained acclaim as masters of wordplay, filling their works with puns, provocations, quotations, and more. Below, browse a curated selection of text-based works by today’s leading artists—Tracey Emin, Mel Bochner, and Barbara Kruger, among them—and discover works you’ll enjoy seeing (and reading) each day.