John Baldessari

United States (1931)
Biennale Images Vevey
2014
Printed Matter Photography Portfolio III: Stills series

A leading figure in conceptual art, John Baldessari is known for his peculiar use of photography and for appropriating found images. This print, from the Printed Matter Photography Portfolio III: Stills series, shows a man crossed with vertical lines. Enlarged and displayed on the facade of a former prison, the image seemed to tell a new story, perhaps that of a white-collar worker behind prison bars, a story resonating with the building’s past. The over 140-m2 installation revealed the endless narrative potential of an image according to the context in which it is displayed.