AzizArt Jan2020

John Anthony Baldessari (June 17,
1931 – January 2, 2020)was an
American conceptual artist known
for his work featuring found
photography and appropriated
images. He lived and worked in
Santa Monica and Venice,
California.
Initially a painter, Baldessari began
to incorporate texts and
photography into his canvases in
the mid-1960s. In 1970 he began
working in printmaking, film,
video, installation, sculpture and
photography.He created
thousands of works which
demonstrate—and, in many cases,
combine—the narrative potential
of images and the associative
power of language within the
boundaries of the work of art.
His art has been featured in more
than 200 solo exhibitions in the
U.S. and Europe. His work
influenced that of Cindy Sherman,
David Salle, Annette Lemieux, and
Barbara Kruger among others.
Early life and career
Baldessari was born in National
City, California,to Hedvig Marie
Jensen (1896-1950), a Danish
nurse,and Antonio Baldessari
(1877-1976), an Italian salvage
dealer. Baldessari and his elder
sister were raised in Southern
California.He attended Sweetwater
High School and San Diego State
College.Between 1960 and 1984,
he was married to Montessorian
teacher Carol Ann Wixom;[9] they
have two children.
In 1959, Baldessari began teaching
art in the San Diego school system.
He kept teaching for nearly three
decades, in schools and junior
colleges and community colleges,
and eventually at the university
level. When the University of
California decided to open up a
campus in San Diego, the new head
of the Visual Art Department, Paul
Brach, asked Baldessari to be part
of the originating faculty in 1968. At
UCSD he shared an office with
David Antin.In 1970, Baldessari
moved to Santa Monica, where he
met many artists and writers, and
began teaching at CalArts. His first
classes included David Salle, Jack
Goldstein, Mike Kelley, Ken
Feingold, Tony Oursler, James
Welling, Barbara Bloom, Matt
Mullican, and Troy Brauntuch.While
at CalArts, Baldessari taught "the
infamous Post Studio class" 1