ART-PRESENTATION:Early Work-John Baldessari

A double exhibition in the form of retrospective, with old and new artworks of the famous American artist John Baldessari, is presented in both the Marian Goodman Galleries in London and Paris simultaneously. The London exhibition is entitled ’Pictures & Scripts’’, in which we will refer to the next presentation and ‘’Early Work’’ is the title of Paris exhibition, where for the first time is presented a selection of important works of the early period of the artist.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Marian Goodman Gallery Archive

Early Work comprises examples from most of Baldessari’s major series: “National City”, “Commissioned Painting”, “Thaumatrope”, “Vanitas”, “Portrait” and “Goya” series, each giving a unique overview of the breadth and development of his practice. Some of the work on display, including “Study for Econ-O-Wash (Version B)”, 1967 have rarely been exhibited since their creation. “Bird #1”, 1962, the earliest work in the exhibition, presents an image of a bird falling through the picture plane. Again, an early example of Baldessari’s use of cropping for dramatic effect, the bird has been cut in such a cinematic way as to suggest its falling through the air. “Bird #1” belongs to a small group of paintings that escaped destruction, when on July 24 1970 Baldessari decided to ceremoniously cremate 125 works, including many oil paintings, made between 1953 and 1966. Following Baldessari’s seminal statement “I will not make any more boring Art”, he conceived the work “The Artist Hitting Various Objects with a Golf Club”, 1972-73, composed of 30 photographs of the artist swinging and hitting with a golf club objects excavated from a dump, as a parody of cataloging rather than a thorough straight classification. “Portrait: Various Identities Hidden With Name/Date Cards”, 1974 echoes the work “Portrait: Artist’s Identity Hidden with Various Hats” 1974, a work in the collection of LACMA, Los Angeles, which illustrates the recurrence of portraits with faces obscured by domestic objects or spots of varying colours. Art historical references appear throughout John Baldessari’s practice, as evidenced by the work in the exhibition from the “Goya Series”, “Goya Series: THIS, THAT, OR THE OTHER”, 1997 in which we see black and white images of everyday objects; a paper clip, bouquet of flowers, and apple, juxtaposed with titles taken from “The Disasters of War” the 82 prints created between 1810 – 1820 by Francisco Goya.

Info: Galerie Marian Goodman, 79 rue du Temple, Paris, Duration: 28/2-11/4/15, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat: 11:00-19:00, www.mariangoodman.com