John Baldessari
NATIONAL CITY. Paintings from 1967 and 1996
May 23–July 31, 1997
Cologne
“Living in National City and working in a studio with no windows, I had a lot of time to think about things and the state of art, and one of the things I began thinking about – probably coming out simultaneously from teaching – was the function of art. When I say ‘function’, it’s interesting because I had this social conscience about trying to find some sort of life’s work that would make some sense to me and the world. Not that what I need is some social fulfillment that I did somebody some good – I can never be convinced that art did anybody any good – but I was thinking in that direction. Thinking about where art was, where I was in relationship to art, it seemed to me that I was located perhaps a fourth or fifth generation away from abstract expressionism. The same moves were being repeated over and over again by artists, including myself. And one of the reasons most often expressed by critics, or people mouthing off about art, was that it didn’t communicate. ‘My kid can draw like that,’ or what have you. [ … ]
