John Baldessari Reflects on Power and Art in 2012 Interview

In a November 2012 interview with ArtReview, artist John Baldessari discussed his relationship with power, avoiding direct commentary but exploring it through symbolic stand-ins like money. He noted a shift in art students' attitudes since the mid-1980s, when they began seriously inquiring about galleries and sales, contrasting with earlier expectations that selling art was wrong. Baldessari, then 81 and still actively producing work, had recently resigned from the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, prompting fellow artist trustees Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie, and Ed Ruscha to also step down, which fueled criticism of director Jeffrey Deitch. His retrospective, Pure Beauty, had toured venues including Tate Modern in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, cementing his international reputation. Baldessari described using colored dots to obscure faces in his paintings, a signature style born from disliking smug expressions in source images like production stills. He recalled being moved to tears by Piet Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie, acknowledging art's emotional power. The conversation touched on market dynamics, with Baldessari cautioning against equating higher prices with aesthetic value, indirectly referencing Sotheby's Tobias Meyer's claim that the best art is the most expensive. Despite his influence, Baldessari aimed to wield power benignly, such as recommending artists to curators.