Collaboration itself is a way for the two artists to achieve new solutions. For the exhibition they allowed the planes of text and color to work simultaneously in order to achieve a new and unanticipated resonance and profundity. The idea behind it was to use a 40-year-old text and update it by blending it within the context of color trends. “John and I are similar in the sense that we both like to work from a simple, almost neutral plan in the hopes of generating unexpected results. We both like to nd ways to get beyond our own preferences and tastes so that we can generate something that we cannot anticipate. Paradoxically, for both of us, the lesson seems to be – the more neutral the plan the more surprising the result”, Cranston explains.
In her practice Cranston investigates the intersections between individual and shared experience and how imagery and objects acquire meaning in our culture. While oftentimes taking personal attributes or historical events as a jumping-off point, her work is ultimately concerned with the formal language of art and the role the artist plays in helping us see the world in new ways.
Since the 1960’s, the works of Baldessari have developed into one of the most pioneering oeuvres of contemporary art. By means of productive gaps between image and word, he focuses on the relationship between language and power. Visual jokes and plays on words are the means by which he disrupts the strict classi cation of sense and nonsense and sets in motion processes of critical thought with regard to society.
Meg Cranston: *1960 in Baldwin, NY. Lives and works in Venice, CA.
Selected exhibitions: 2014: Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin (solo/upcoming). 2012: Made in L.A. (group). 2011: Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles (group). 2010: Gallery Brandstrup Oslo, Norway (group). 2009: Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany (solo). 2008: Getty Museum of Art, Los Angeles (group); Kuenstlerverein Malkasten, Duesseldorf, Germany (group). 2007: Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand (solo).
John Baldessari: *1931 in National City, CA. Lives and works in Santa Monica, CA.
Solo Exhibitions (selection): 2013: Michael Janssen Singapore. 2011: Australian Museum, Sydney and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. 2010: Fondazione Prada. Milan; Gemini G.E.L. Los Angeles, CA. 2009: Tate Modern, London, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museum Haus Lange. Krefeld, Germany.
In her practice Cranston investigates the intersections between individual and shared experience and how imagery and objects acquire meaning in our culture. While oftentimes taking personal attributes or historical events as a jumping-off point, her work is ultimately concerned with the formal language of art and the role the artist plays in helping us see the world in new ways.
Since the 1960’s, the works of Baldessari have developed into one of the most pioneering oeuvres of contemporary art. By means of productive gaps between image and word, he focuses on the relationship between language and power. Visual jokes and plays on words are the means by which he disrupts the strict classi cation of sense and nonsense and sets in motion processes of critical thought with regard to society.
Meg Cranston: *1960 in Baldwin, NY. Lives and works in Venice, CA.
Selected exhibitions: 2014: Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin (solo/upcoming). 2012: Made in L.A. (group). 2011: Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles (group). 2010: Gallery Brandstrup Oslo, Norway (group). 2009: Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany (solo). 2008: Getty Museum of Art, Los Angeles (group); Kuenstlerverein Malkasten, Duesseldorf, Germany (group). 2007: Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand (solo).
John Baldessari: *1931 in National City, CA. Lives and works in Santa Monica, CA.
Solo Exhibitions (selection): 2013: Michael Janssen Singapore. 2011: Australian Museum, Sydney and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. 2010: Fondazione Prada. Milan; Gemini G.E.L. Los Angeles, CA. 2009: Tate Modern, London, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museum Haus Lange. Krefeld, Germany.
