Artist Biennial

John Baldessari

1931–2020

49 works in the collection 20 exhibitions at the Whitney

Biography

One of the most notable figures of West Coast conceptual art and an influential teacher, John Baldessari began moving beyond traditional artistic forms in the mid-1960s. His inventive, irreverent art of the past fifty years encompasses painting, photography, prints, film, video, installation, and sculpture. Baldessari’s use of found and appropriated imagery has raised important questions about what constitutes authority or authorship; where the boundaries between different mediums lie; what relationships exist between words and pictures; and how images accrue meaning differently depending on context.

This work is one in a series that pairs casual snapshots Baldessari took around the San Diego area with didactic texts and formulaic advice excerpted from art theory or how-to books. The idea of artistic skill and originality is challenged in multiple ways. Baldessari hired a professional sign painter to letter the texts in a nondescript typeface—thus absenting his hand from the creative process— and chose purposefully “bad” images that betray conventions of photography. The traditional hierarchy of mediums, especially the presumed superiority of painting to photography, is no less sacred: by printing his snapshot directly onto an emulsion- coated canvas, Baldessari uses a photographic technique to create a painting. With his signature humor and irony, this work renders Baldessari the “slavish announcer” described in the caption.

Works in the collection

Mostly blank page featuring small photo of a person in a red sweater near seated people.

Raw Prints

1976 · Prints

Raw Prints (Red)

Raw Prints (Red)

1976 · Prints

Raw Prints (Orange)

1976 · Prints

Raw Prints (Yellow)

1976 · Prints

Raw Prints (Green)

1976 · Prints

Raw Prints (Blue)

1976 · Prints

Raw Prints (Violet)

1976 · Prints

Large white canvas with bold black text explaining the painting's aim to encourage creative composition.

What This Painting Aims to Do

1966–1968 · Paintings

Panoramic landscape showing a lake with a small tree-covered island left and snow-capped mountains right, colored blue and orange.

Double Landscape

1988 · Photographs

A row of trumpet players on a high ledge blowing long horns as red strings cross the sky.

Aligned Trumpeting

1988 · Prints

A black-and-white violinist framed in a diamond shape with a blue dot and alphabet samples below.

Two Languages (Begin)

1989 · Photographs

A red rectangle sits on a sidewalk in a park above a black rectangle in snowy woods.

Two Sets (One with Bench)

1989–1990 · Prints

A pair of hands holds a metal bowl upside down over a shallow plate against a plain wall.

Folding Hat

1970–1971 · Video

Large $100,000 bill with printed caption 'The first $100,000 I ever made' beneath it.

The First $100,000 I Ever Made

2012 · Prints

Person painting a room's floor and lower walls blue from a top-down view.

Six Colorful Inside Jobs

1977 · Film

Two hands press green and orange powdered pigment into small molds on a table.

Four Short Films

1972–1973 · Film

Some Narrow Views (either tall or wide)

2004 · Prints

Repeated handwritten lines saying "I will not make any more boring art" across the page.

I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art

1971 · Prints

Two people leaning close with abstract green and red shapes and black scribbles.

Noses & Ears Etc.: Two Compositions/Couple (one with red nose)

2007 · Prints

A long narrow strip of paper filled with many repeated handwritten lines covering its length.

Wallpaper ("I Will Not Make Anymore Boring Art")

1971/2000 · Prints

Heaven and Hell

1988 · Prints

The Helmsmen (With Various Fires)

1989–1990 · Prints

Three-panel composition showing a yellow shooting star above a trapped worker among rubble with blue and red circles.

Falling Star

1989–1990 · Prints

Six Rooms

1993 · Prints

A pair of worn black sneakers with untied laces resting on a plain surface.

Inventory

1972 · Video

Handwritten notes and four small black-and-white photos labeled with qualities like realistic and sexually dormant.

The First Room

1993 · Prints

Six small black-and-white film stills with handwritten captions arranged on a mostly blank white page.

The Second Room

1993 · Prints

A collage of six black-and-white photographs with handwritten captions about the third room and animal nature.

The Third Room

1993 · Prints

A white page with six small black-and-white photos arranged with handwritten captions describing different behaviors.

The Fourth Room

1993 · Prints

Six small black-and-white photographs arranged in two rows with handwritten captions and a title.

The Fifth Room

1993 · Prints

Collage of six small black-and-white photos arranged vertically and horizontally with handwritten captions.

The Sixth Room

1993 · Prints

A bearded man with shoulder-length hair sits against a tiled wall.

Baldessari Sings LeWitt

1972 · Video

Venial Tongue, Venal Tongue

1975 · Photographs

Black-and-white parking lot photograph above bold text stating that an artist is not merely the slavish announcer of facts.

An Artist is Not Merely the Slavish Announcer

1966–1968 · Photographs

The Indomitable Spirit

1979–1989 · Photographs

Two men in plaid suits stand side by side with blue and yellow circles covering faces.

Blue Boy (with Yellow Boy: One with Hawaiian Tie, One in Dark)

1989 · Prints

Two stacked black-and-white landscapes show a red rectangle on a sidewalk and a black rectangle on snow.

Two Sets (One with Bench)

1989–1990 · Prints

Hegel's Cellar

1986 · Prints

A shirtless person lies face down on the sand with a red stain highlighted beneath them.

TWO FIGURES (One with Shadow)

1986 · Prints

Two faces leaning together above a black field with circular windows revealing grasping hands.

KISS, HAIR, HANDS

1986 · Prints

Two children examining a small round object with pins connected by red lines like a constellation.

SEEDS

1986 · Prints

Large cheering crowd with raised hands on the left and tightly packed boats on the right, marked with colored dots.

TWO BOATS

1986 · Prints

A horse rears and jumps against a wooden fence in a grassy paddock with trees.

THREE COLORS (with Horse Ascending)

1986 · Prints

Row of mounted soldiers riding across an open field above a wide bright blue strip.

CAVALRY

1986 · Prints

A lone person sits in a small rowboat on calm, empty water near the image center.

BOAT (with Figure Standing)

1986 · Prints

Two-panel collage showing a person lying in hay above and an old deep-sea diving helmet below.

LEG, STRAW, DIVER

1986 · Prints

Black wrought-iron decorative element overlies a close-up of a grazing horse's legs on green grass.

DEER AND OCTOPUS

1986 · Prints

Two suited men point revolvers at each other across a doorway with a dark center.

LARGE DOOR

1986 · Prints

Grid of twelve film stills with a central shoe image and the title "ASHPUTTLE" above.

Ashputtle

1982 · Photographs

Exhibitions at the Whitney