John Baldessari was a pioneer of American conceptual art who continuously broke traditional artistic boundaries and expanded our understanding of what art can be. His practice challenged the passive gaze, toying with viewers’ desires and appealing to their imaginations, their memories and their tendency to read a story into every image. Baldessari profoundly impacted several generations of visual artists—from David Salle and Jack Goldstein to Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger. He has been associated with Sprüth Magers since 1995.

John Baldessari (1931–2020) lived and worked in Venice, California. Selected solo exhibitions include Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2020), Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach (2019), Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2017), Städel Museum, Frankfurt (2015), Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow (2013), Fondazione Prada, Milan (2010), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2011) and Tate Modern, London (2009), which traveled to Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona (2010), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2010), and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2010–2011). Selected group exhibitions include the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) at which he was honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Whitney Biennial (2009, 1983), Documenta VII (1982), Documenta V (1972) and the Carnegie International (1985–86). Other honors and awards include the National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (2014), the Kaiserring, Goslar (2012) and the Americans for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award (2005).