Give me a B, give me an A ... & etc., 2009
From Forty Are Better Than One
10-part leporello, digital pigment print (Ditone) on 188 g Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper, 32 x 250 cm (12½ x 98½ in). Edition: 75, signed and numbered.
In this edition, John Baldessari spells out his own name using a playful and surreal visual alphabet. Each letter is paired with an unexpected image – a bone for "B", a salt shaker for "S", a dog, an ear, an infinity sign – turning the act of spelling into a semiotic game. This work exemplifies Baldessari’s signature approach: collapsing text and image into a single, witty composition that questions how meaning is constructed. Both humorous and conceptual, the piece highlights Baldessari’s ongoing fascination with language, identity, and the absurdities of visual culture. It’s a cheer, a puzzle, and a self-portrait all at once – an artwork that quite literally spells out the artist’s legacy.
This work was created as part of the group project Forty Are Better Than One: as a special edition of Edition Schellmann's catalogue raisonné to mark the gallery's 40th anniversary.
