The conceptual artist found inspiration in the everyday for his monumental series of prints

‘We often see art and printmaking through this prism of how artists engaged with media,’ says Lindsay Griffith, Head of Department in Prints & Multiples at Christie’s New York, ‘and John Baldessari did so in such an interesting and unique way.’

As one of the most significant conceptual artists of the 20th century, Baldessari created works in photography, printmaking, installation, and painting, but some of his most significant compositions came when creating between mediums, as with his text and language based prints. A B C Art is one of the works he made in the schism between printmaking and conceptual art. Comprising 26 prints in low relief of the letters of the English alphabet, it is a monumental work that epitomises his style.

Offered in Contemporary Edition: New York, from 10-23 July at Christie’s Online, it is a highlight not only of printmaking, but of his oeuvre as a whole. ‘It is one of the most important things he did in prints, being one of the last significant portfolios that he did in the medium,’ says Griffith. ‘But it is also a great work by Baldessari.’

‘As a conceptual artist, his work tricks our mind, playing with images and their cultural associations, something which is enhanced when these images are paired with text.’

A B C Art is the culmination of this exploration. ‘It’s the most distilled version of his conceptual work. The alphabet is the basis of language, and the images are our associations, while his classic sense of humour ties it all up neatly. Additionally, it’s emblematic of his fruitful relationship with Mixografia studio, in Los Angeles.’

‘Mixografia, where this particular edition was published and printed, is a very important print studio based in Los Angeles that has a proprietary printing technique that's based around three-dimensionality and paper pulp,’ says Griffith. For this particular work, Baldessari worked with the studio to pair each of the letters that comprises the work with an object, which was used as a mould for the printing plate.

‘ABC Art is one of the most important things he did in prints, as well as one of the last significant portfolios that he made in the field.’
—Lindsay Griffith

The playfulness of this technique is central to its appeal, being both unique and unconventional while firmly tying each letter to the world around it. ‘He worked with Shaye Remba on A B C Art, son of Mixografia’s founders,’ says Griffith, ‘and they searched for inspiration by going to places such as grocery stores and thrift shops to find source material for the images used on this piece.’

This process highlights Baldessari’s ability to play with text and its visual representation, a relationship which is emblematic of his larger contribution to art. It can be seen in the layout of this work — it is structured not alphabetically, but as the QWERTY keyboard we use daily — as well as in his visual references, which range from the cute and comic to the macabre and dark (‘J’ is Jell-O, ‘L’ is a lollipop, while ‘G’ is a gun, and ‘N’ is a noose).

‘Baldessari is someone who is famously interested in the connection between images and language,’ says Griffith. ‘In A B C Art, this is on full display, alongside his inspirations, and his humour.’