About the Work
How does the meaning of an existing picture change when it is combined with text? In his 'Movie Script/Art' series, John Baldessari examines the relationship between painting and photography and between image and language. For the 2015 exhibition 'The Städel Paintings', the artist chose striking details from paintings in the museum's collection - such as the one he took here from 'Little Garden of Paradise' by the Upper Rhenish Master. Baldessari's diptychs are completed by passages from Hollywood scripts which always contain references to the painting and thus inspire the development of an independent story. In addition, Baldessari continues ad absurdum the promise of painting that a third dimension can open up within the second dimension. He paints over extensive areas of the surface, such as the background, removing in the process the section's three-dimensionality. This prompts an exciting and multilayered give and take, calling into question both old and new art and breaking with established patterns of perception.
