John Baldessari is one of the most important American artists of the post-war period. He spent his entire career on the West Coast, whose rich and radical openness to new ideas allowed Baldessari—as well as his fellow artists and students—freedom to invent works that challenged what were perceived art to be. Baldessari claims Marcel Duchamp as his source influence, using words to evoke images, and images to evoke ideas. Baldessari borrows post-modern theories of how language is formed, allowing him to play with the gaps, or missing information, that help form meaning. Baldessari fit in-between the LA Cool of the Fetish Finish and Pop artists of the West Coast, and like many of his peers, Baldessari “skipped” over New York to show his work in Europe, where appreciation for conceptual art was more robust. He is known primarily for shifting the use of photography as source and object, pioneering new ways to critique the ubiquity of photography and its’ impact on our contemporary social landscape.
Baldessari began painting in the 1950s, but in the 1960s he made simple text and image paintings that were sardonic commentary on the very nature of painting. One of his early works from the 1960s consisted of the words “Pure Beauty” painted onto a canvas—the artist wanted to give his neighbors in National City what they were looking for in art. In his 1971 show at the Rhode Island School Design, because the school had no funds for shipping art works, Baldessari instructed students at the school to write on the walls “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Work.” This generous gesture allowed students to be part of Baldessari’s work, while they were admonished to not make boring art.
John Baldessari is one of the most important American artists of the post-war period. He spent his entire career on the West Coast, whose rich and radical openness to new ideas allowed Baldessari—as well as his fellow artists and students—freedom to invent works that challenged what were perceived art to be. Baldessari claims Marcel Duchamp as his source influence, using words to evoke images, and images to evoke ideas. Baldessari borrows post-modern theories of how language is formed, allowing him to play with the gaps, or missing information, that help form meaning. Baldessari fit in-between the LA Cool of the Fetish Finish and Pop artists of the West Coast, and like many of his peers, Baldessari “skipped” over New York to show his work in Europe, where appreciation for conceptual art was more robust. He is known primarily for shifting the use of photography as source and object, pioneering new ways to critique the ubiquity of photography and its’ impact on our contemporary social landscape.
Baldessari began painting in the 1950s, but in the 1960s he made simple text and image paintings that were sardonic commentary on the very nature of painting. One of his early works from the 1960s consisted of the words “Pure Beauty” painted onto a canvas—the artist wanted to give his neighbors in National City what they were looking for in art. In his 1971 show at the Rhode Island School Design, because the school had no funds for shipping art works, Baldessari instructed students at the school to write on the walls “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Work.” This generous gesture allowed students to be part of Baldessari’s work, while they were admonished to not make boring art.
John Baldessari is one of the most important American artists of the post-war period. He spent his entire career on the West Coast, whose rich and radical openness to new ideas allowed Baldessari—as well as his fellow artists and students—freedom to invent works that challenged what were perceived art to be. Baldessari claims Marcel Duchamp as his source influence, using words to evoke images, and images to evoke ideas. Baldessari borrows post-modern theories of how language is formed, allowing him to play with the gaps, or missing information, that help form meaning. Baldessari fit in-between the LA Cool of the Fetish Finish and Pop artists of the West Coast, and like many of his peers, Baldessari “skipped” over New York to show his work in Europe, where appreciation for conceptual art was more robust. He is known primarily for shifting the use of photography as source and object, pioneering new ways to critique the ubiquity of photography and its’ impact on our contemporary social landscape.
Baldessari began painting in the 1950s, but in the 1960s he made simple text and image paintings that were sardonic commentary on the very nature of painting. One of his early works from the 1960s consisted of the words “Pure Beauty” painted onto a canvas—the artist wanted to give his neighbors in National City what they were looking for in art. In his 1971 show at the Rhode Island School Design, because the school had no funds for shipping art works, Baldessari instructed students at the school to write on the walls “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Work.” This generous gesture allowed students to be part of Baldessari’s work, while they were admonished to not make boring art.
