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Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl is pleased to present new works by
John Baldessari, on view in the gallery from October 7 to November 6, 2010.
On October 14, from 6-8pm, the gallery will host a reception for the artist
and a signing of the book John Baldessari: A Catalogue Raisonne of Prints and
Multiples 1971-2007. This book by Sharon Coplan Hurowitz and published by
Hudson Hills Press is the first comprehensive study of Baldessari's print work
and multiples.
Titled Foot and Stocking (With Big Toe Exposed), the six bold and colorful
images being exhibited have just been printed and published by the Los
Angeles-based artists' workshop, Gemini G.E.L. To begin his work on this
series, Baldessari had photographs taken of the bare right foot of several
members of his studio staff and then digitally reworked each image by
covering the entire foot, except the right big toe, with a black form in the appearance of a sock. The Gemini
workshop made print-outs of Baldessari's files to determine the proper scale, and once resolved, Gemini's
printers began the lengthy process of making screens and color-proofing each image. Baldessari created a
formula for the six colors utilized in the project, selecting three pairings of color that alternate top to
bottom. Originally the black area of the foot was simply screenprinted in a semi-gloss black ink, but
Baldessari was stimulated by the workshop's enthusiasm to add a textured sock, and several fabrics were
auditioned. The final result is a black sock made of laser-cut Cordura, a urethane-coated nylon, applied with
a heat-activated adhesive. The exposed toe is also a collaged element - a screenprinted and varnished
duplicate toenail, hand-cut and collaged using a pressure sensitive adhesive - and the side edges of the
collaged nail are individually hand-painted by the workshop.
John Baldessari is internationally acclaimed and acknowledged as an innovator of Conceptual Art. These
dramatic, large-scale (50 x 33 inches) prints are a continuation of Baldessari's exploration of isolated body
parts. Through careful manipulation of scale and perspective, Baldessari has created a delightful and
intriguing presentation of an otherwise banal subject, and has titled each to correspond with his studio staffmember's
name, as if they were portraits. Much like his successful previous Noses & Ears series, Baldessari
smartly juxtaposes photography and nearly abstract shapes. With Foot and Stocking (With Big Toe Exposed),
the viewer is equally seduced by the exposed toenail as by the larger ominous form that has been concealed.
In addition to being on view in the gallery, selections from this series will be presented November 3-7 at
The Print Fair, hosted and organized by the International Fine Print Dealers Association and held at The Park
Avenue Armory. Furthermore, Pure Beauty, a survey of over five decades of John Baldessari¡¯s work, will be
presented by The Metropolitan Museum of Art from October 20, 2010 through January 9, 2011.
For additional information, contact: Chris Santa Maria ▪▪ 212-249-3324 gemini@joniweyl.com
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