John Baldessari | Biography, Art, & Facts

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class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Baldessari">John Baldessari</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Baldessari/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/John-Baldessari">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header 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class="topic-header"> <div class="d-flex align-items-top justify-content-between"> <div class="d-flex flex-column"> <div> <div> <h1>John Baldessari</h1></div> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">American artist</div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="1261899"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <a class="js-modal btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" href="/print/article/1261899" target="_blank" > <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 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Yood</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">James Yood was Associate Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also taught contemporary art theory and criticism at Northwestern University,...</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> James W. Yood</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/editor/Naomi-Blumberg/9538086" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Naomi Blumberg</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Naomi Blumberg was Assistant Editor, Arts and Culture for Encyclopaedia Britannica. She covered topics related to art history, architecture, theatre, dance, literature, and music.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Naomi Blumberg</span><span class="text-gray-700 mx-5">•</span><a class="see-all border-gray-700 gtm-byline" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Baldessari/additional-info#contributors">All</a> </div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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Though he originally intended to be an art critic, he instead became a central figure in the growth of Los Angeles as a major art centre. Baldessari taught at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/California-Institute-of-the-Arts" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">California Institute of the Arts</a> (CalArts) in Valencia from 1970 to 1988. Thereafter he joined the art faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, where (1996–2007) he taught many students who went on to become successful artists, including <span id="ref1233569"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Salle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">David Salle</a>, <span id="ref1233570"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eric-Fischl" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Eric Fischl</a>, Tony Oursler, and Mike Kelley.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Initially Baldessari worked with what has been called the “phototext <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/canvas" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">canvas</a>,” words painted on a canvas. His interest in language-based art led him to create a great variety of works, all in some combination of words, still images, and video. In the 1970s he made several deadpan absurd videos, including, for example, one in which he “sings” several sentences by <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conceptual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conceptual" data-type="MW">conceptual</a> artist <span id="ref1110898"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sol-LeWitt" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sol LeWitt</a> regarding art (<em>Baldessari Sings LeWitt</em>, 1972) and another in which he “teaches a plant the alphabet” (<em>Teaching a Plant the Alphabet</em>, 1972). He is perhaps best known for his works <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="juxtaposing" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juxtaposing" data-type="MW">juxtaposing</a> found photographs such as film stills, taking them out of their original <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="context" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/context" data-type="MW">context</a> and rearranging their articulation and often including words or bits of sentences. His examination of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ambiguities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambiguities" data-type="MW">ambiguities</a> and frailties of photographic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/communication" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">communication</a> exposed the range of ways in which photographic images could be organized and “read.” His work both undercut and reinforced the procedures of perception. In the 1980s, for example, he became well known for his manipulation of found photographs on which he placed coloured circle stickers over <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/People-magazine" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">people’s</a> faces. In doing so, he hoped to compel the viewer to consider more carefully the other elements in the image.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the 21st century Baldessari continued to play with perception with a series titled <em>Noses & Ears, Etc.</em>, in which he isolated noses and ears in photographs of people and painted over the rest of the faces with bright colours. Later <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="iterations" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iterations" data-type="MW">iterations</a> of the series featured isolated feet, hands, elbows, foreheads, and eyebrows. As did his earlier photocollages, those works challenge the viewer to fill in what was edited out by the artist.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Among Baldessari’s many honours are the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Venice-Biennale" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Venice Biennale</a> (2009) and the National Medal of Arts (2015) presented by U.S. Pres. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Barack Obama</a>. His work has been recognized in numerous solo exhibitions, including several retrospectives, the first of which was held in 1981 at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Museum" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New Museum of Contemporary Art</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York</a>. In 1990 the Museum of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Contemporary" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Contemporary" data-type="EB">Contemporary</a> Art in Los Angeles organized a retrospective that also traveled to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/New-York-City" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">New York City</a>, to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whitney-Museum-of-American-Art" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Whitney Museum of American Art</a>. Another major Baldessari retrospective, “John Baldessari: Pure Beauty,” opened at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Los-Angeles-County-Museum-of-Art" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Los Angeles County Museum of Art</a> in 2010 and later traveled to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Metropolitan-Museum-of-Art" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Metropolitan Museum of Art</a> in New York City. </p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section><span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/James-W-Yood/4910">James W. 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John Baldessari | Biography, Art, & Facts | Britannica