studied art, literature, and art history at san diego state college and the university of california, berkeley. a major figure in contemporary art, baldessari has contributed to the definition of postmodern art. his ingenious application of certain art-making strategies - appropriation, deconstruction, decontextualization, sequentiality and text/image juxtaposition - was foresighted, as was his integration of semiology and mass media imagery.

baldessari's work conveys a wide range of ideas that have to do with gathering, sorting and reorganizing information. "something that is part of my personality is seeing the world slightly askew. it's a perceptual stance. the real world is absurd sometimes, so I don't make a conscious attempt; but because I come at it in a certain way, it seems really strange." baldessari's influence on several generations of artists, many now well-known in their own right, comes from the example of his innovative work as well as his famous decades-long tenure as a teacher at the california institute of the arts.

aged 88, baldessari passed away january 2nd, 2020