John Baldessari
John Baldessari is considered one of the most influential conceptual artists of today. Towering well over six feet, he has been called the “godfather of conceptual art, the master of appropriation, the surrealist for the digital age.”. (Nussbaum) With his work using appropriated, mostly black and white images, and geometric spots of color to “hide” or cover certain aspects of the picture, he has succeeded in creating images that are often disjointed but at the same time relate and work as a cohesive piece.
John Baldessari was born June 17, 1931 in National City, California just three days after "St. Philibert" overturned off St. Nazaire, France drowning 450 on June 14. He earned his B.A. from the San Diego State College during the years of 1949-1953. He did post graduate work at the University of California in Berkeley, CA in 1954-55 and at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, CA from 1957-59. He got a job teaching at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA from 1970 - 1988 and the University of California at Los Angeles from 1996 – 2007.
He has also received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2000 from the Otis Art Institute, an honorary Ph.D. from San Diego State University, San Diego, California in 2003, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. (Marian Goodman Gallery)
Over the years Baldessari has won awards too numerous to list out here, some of which include the Guggenheim Fellowship award in1986 and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, in June 6, 2009.
Some of Baldessari’s most famous works are his “simpler plainer” ones, which have a plain white canvas and only black text on them, ones such as “Pure Beauty”. (Carone) Baldessari is quoted as saying that he suspects that in 100 years he will be best remembered not for these works, but as “the guy who put dots over people’s faces.” (Nussbaum) His unique style of covering every face in his appropriated images with brightly colored dots has become a style all his own. He also uses bright color to replace other things as well. He will replace a woman’s hair with bright blue, or a man’s nose with bright yellow, or even an entire person’s silhouette becomes simply a bright color.
Baldessari now lives in Santa Monica, California with his dog Giotto. Baldessari is still very much active, having completed an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego La Jolla, in La Jolla, CA in February, an exhibit at the Marian Goodman Gallery Paris in Paris, France in April, one at the Margo Leavin Gallery in Los Angeles, CA in May, as well as traveling to receive an award in Goslar, Germany in October. He is also currently working on getting ready to publish John Baldessari Catalogue Raisonné of Unique Works, which is “a multivolume series of books documenting the artist’s work from 1956 to the present.” (The Creative Common Good) He continues to be the “teacher, mentor, friend” that many know him as as he works at following his motto of “no more boring art.” (Nussbaum)
Works Cited A Brief History of John Baldesari. By Gabriel Nussbaum. Dirs. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Perf. John Baldessari and Tom Waits. LACMA. n.d. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU7V4GyEuXA>.
Carone, Angela. John Baldessari: Can't Take National City Out of the Boy. <http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/feb/10/john-baldessari-cant-take-national-city-out-boy/>.
Marian Goodman Gallery. JOHN BALDESSARI. <http://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/john-baldessari/>.
The Creative Common Good. John Baldessari Catalogue Raisonné. <http://www.baldessari.net/>.
To watch a brief history of John Baldassari click the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU7V4GyEuXA
John Baldessari was born June 17, 1931 in National City, California just three days after "St. Philibert" overturned off St. Nazaire, France drowning 450 on June 14. He earned his B.A. from the San Diego State College during the years of 1949-1953. He did post graduate work at the University of California in Berkeley, CA in 1954-55 and at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, CA from 1957-59. He got a job teaching at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA from 1970 - 1988 and the University of California at Los Angeles from 1996 – 2007.
He has also received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2000 from the Otis Art Institute, an honorary Ph.D. from San Diego State University, San Diego, California in 2003, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. (Marian Goodman Gallery)
Over the years Baldessari has won awards too numerous to list out here, some of which include the Guggenheim Fellowship award in1986 and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, in June 6, 2009.
Some of Baldessari’s most famous works are his “simpler plainer” ones, which have a plain white canvas and only black text on them, ones such as “Pure Beauty”. (Carone) Baldessari is quoted as saying that he suspects that in 100 years he will be best remembered not for these works, but as “the guy who put dots over people’s faces.” (Nussbaum) His unique style of covering every face in his appropriated images with brightly colored dots has become a style all his own. He also uses bright color to replace other things as well. He will replace a woman’s hair with bright blue, or a man’s nose with bright yellow, or even an entire person’s silhouette becomes simply a bright color.
Baldessari now lives in Santa Monica, California with his dog Giotto. Baldessari is still very much active, having completed an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego La Jolla, in La Jolla, CA in February, an exhibit at the Marian Goodman Gallery Paris in Paris, France in April, one at the Margo Leavin Gallery in Los Angeles, CA in May, as well as traveling to receive an award in Goslar, Germany in October. He is also currently working on getting ready to publish John Baldessari Catalogue Raisonné of Unique Works, which is “a multivolume series of books documenting the artist’s work from 1956 to the present.” (The Creative Common Good) He continues to be the “teacher, mentor, friend” that many know him as as he works at following his motto of “no more boring art.” (Nussbaum)
Works Cited A Brief History of John Baldesari. By Gabriel Nussbaum. Dirs. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Perf. John Baldessari and Tom Waits. LACMA. n.d. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU7V4GyEuXA>.
Carone, Angela. John Baldessari: Can't Take National City Out of the Boy. <http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/feb/10/john-baldessari-cant-take-national-city-out-boy/>.
Marian Goodman Gallery. JOHN BALDESSARI. <http://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/john-baldessari/>.
The Creative Common Good. John Baldessari Catalogue Raisonné. <http://www.baldessari.net/>.
To watch a brief history of John Baldassari click the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU7V4GyEuXA