In order to subvert common associations, the Baldesarri brings one’s attention to minute details, absurd juxtapositions, and obscured or fragmented portions of such imagery. As a prominent figure in Conceptual Art, Baldessari’s process focuses on the perception and interpretation of visual elements and text, while often employing irony to make playful assertions about how meanings and interpretations are formed. This playful work is like an excerpt from an alphabet book or a pictorial acrostic poem in which each letter of his last name is followed by an image of an object beginning with that letter. Baldessari is an artist who has always looked for ways to juxtapose words and images and to play with definitions and perceptions. With that in mind, the viewer notices that for the letters in his name that repeat, the image following is always the same, as in "salt" for "s" and "aerial" for "a." In this way the images become a simple code of repeating pictographs able to stand in for the letters if they were to be removed.
“ I guess a lot of it's just lashing out, because I didn't know how to be an artist, and all this time spent alone in the dark in these studios and importing my culture and constant questions. I'd say, 'Well, why is this art? Why isn't that art? „