Since we already have had paintingas-painting, objects-as-painting, photos-of-objects-as-painting, ideas-of-objects-as-painting, photos-of-ideas-of-objects-as-painting, and paintings-of-ideas-of-objects-as-painting, John Baldessari came up with ideas-of-paintings-of-photos-of-ideas-of-objects-as-painting. I tender the specs: oil paintings commissioned by John Baldessari (“the San Diego concept artist”—The L.A. Times), about three by four feet, depicting, with margin, in the upper portion, tromp-l’oeil paintings of fingers pointing—to a broken lattice, light bulbs in situ, a greasy burner, etc. (all rendered with the aid of a flashbulb Kodacolor), and captioned, in the larger, white lower portion, “A PAINTING BY . . .” (name added). The artists are right out of a Charles Bogle screenplay: George Walker, Elmire Bourke, Helene Morris, Pat Nelson, Dante Guido, Patrick X. Nidork, O.S.A., Hildegarde Reiner, Nancy Conger, Anita Stork, Edgar Transue, Pat Perdue, William Bowne, Sam Jacoby and Jane More.
—Peter Plagens
