John Baldessari

John Anthony Baldessari (b. June 17, 1931, National City California.) is an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. 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. It is hard to characterize John Baldessari's varied practice except through his approach of good-humored irreverence. 

John Baldessari is a recipient of the Americans for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement awarded by the Venice Biennale. His art has been featured in hundreds of solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe including the National Gallery of Art (Washington), Tate Modern (London), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Pier 24 (San Francisco), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Städel Museum (Frankfurt), Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (Valencia), and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He currently lives in Santa Monica, CA and works in Venice, CA.