John Baldessari
John Baldessari
John Anthony Baldessariis an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lives and works in Santa Monica and Venice, California...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionArtist
Date of Birth17 June 1931
CountryUnited States of America
photography art figures
I could never figure out why photography and art had separate histories. So I decided to explore both.
thinking interesting my-friends
Most of my friends are women. I think women are more interesting to talk to.
smart successful work-out
If you're smart, you abandon the things that didn't work out so well, and you enlarge upon the things that seem to be successful.
definitions normal why-not
I was always interested in language. I thought, why not? If a painting, by the normal definition of the term, is paint on canvas, why can't it be painted words on canvas?
writing thinking
Writing helped me understand what I was thinking about.
artist way findings
Artists are better at finding a way to kill their time.
two surface articulation
A TWO-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE WITHOUT ANY ARTICULATION IS A DEAD EXPERIENCE
trying littles world
I don't try to be funny. It's just that I feel the world is a little bit absurd and off-kilter and I'm sort of reporting.
meaningful art moving
I think art, if it's meaningful at all, is a conversation with other artists. You say something, they say something, you move back and forth.
simple back-and-forth complexes
I go back and forth between wanting to be abundantly simple and maddeningly complex.
eye hands air
Look at the subject as if you have never seen it before. Examine it from every side. Draw its outline with your eyes or in the air with your hands, and saturate yourself with it.
art saws ifs
If I saw the art around me that I liked, then I wouldn't do art.
art tired kids
I was getting tired of hearing the complaint, 'My kid could do this,' and 'We don’t get it. What’s modern art? Blah, blah, blah.' And I wondered what would really happen if you gave people what they wanted, something they always look at.
art ideas green
A lot of ideas don't translate very well into art. To say, "Oh my god, the grass is green ..." You're going to end up with a big green painting.