John
Baldessari

John
Baldessari

American, 1931-2020


Baldessari is an influential artist who continues the research begun by Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Kosuth. His work, which is slight and irreverent, synthesises pop and conceptual art, black-and-white and colours, words and images, visual shocks and minimalist austerity, the rigour of the East Coast of America and West Coast cool. 

Baldessari is a collector of media derived from popular culture (excerpts from films, television shows, press and advertising fragments). He uses this iconographic material in artistic arrangements that question the relationship between image and language. In exploring the codes of cultural communication, Baldessari employs a variety of formats: photography, collage, painting, film and video.