word art. (174/365)

John Baldessari (American, born 1931)
Solving Each Problem As It Arises, 1967
Acrylic on canvas, 67 3/4 x 56 1/2 in. (172.1 x 143.5 cm).1

"This work is one of a small group of text and phototext paintings on canvas that Baldessari commissioned from a sign painter in 1967. His decision to use text in this work, not as decoration but as information, reflected his commitment to infuse reality into high art through didactic, confessional image making. Although the works in this series were drawn from textbooks, course lessons, and popular culture, Baldessari presented them on canvas in order to locate the logic of their creation within the context of painting. This work builds on the conceptual foundation of artists like Marcel Duchamp, who questioned methods of production in high art."

from Yale University Art Gallery.