John Baldessari, A two-dimensional surface without any articulation is a dead experience poster

Museum poster featuring a work by American artist John Baldessari (1931–2020). Published by Moderna Museet, Sweden.

Born in 1931 in National City, California, Baldessari first began by creating text works, which were hand-painted, rhetorical phrases on canvas. What a young Baldessari was trying to achieve was to objectify language itself. It therefore made sense to print the words rather than to paint them, removing his hand entirely. A TWO-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE WITHOUT ANY ARTICULATION IS A DEAD EXPERIENCE (1967) was the resulting work, and set Baldessari on a path conceptual humor he would pursue throughout his career.

Baldessari created conceptual art that asks questions about what art is, how it is made and what it looks like. Combining imagery from pop culture with linguistic explorations, his work challenged artistic norms and limits throughout his entire career. For over five decades, Baldessari explored the relationship between text and image and what emerges when the two are brought together. His conceptual artworks often have an underlying streak of humour and irony.