John Baldessari: Pure Beauty

Explore more than 130 works by legendary Californian artist John Baldessari at a major retrospective at London's Tate Modern.

John Baldessari: Pure Beauty at Tate Modern in London

London's Tate Modern presents the largest retrospective of work by leading conceptual artist John Baldessari.

John Baldessari: Pure Beauty features more than 130 works, including books, prints, lesser-known works and a brand new installation.

What to see at John Baldessari: Pure Beauty

John Baldessari uses humour and irony to explore and rewrite traditional ideas about creating art.

Language, words and the relationship between the visual and written are key interests of the American artist.

The exhibition showcases the mixed media used in his works, which blend film, photography and paintings.

Just some of the many works on display include:

• Early photo-and-text works from the late 1960s, including Everything Is Purged … (1966-68) and Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell (1966-68)
• I Will Not Make Anymore Boring Art video (1971)
• Blasted Allegories series (1978)
• Bloody Sundae (1987)

The Life of John Baldessari

John Baldessari was born in 1931 in National City, California.

He studied art at San Diego State College (1949-57) before teaching at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia from 1970-1988 and the University of California in Los Angeles from 1996-2007.

His artwork has featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions and over 900 group exhibitions in the US and Europe.

Today, Baldessari lives and works in Santa Monica.