Postconceptual Godfather
JOHN BALDESSARI'S (IM)PURE BEAUTY AND ITS GLOBAL INFLUENCE

What's with the God look?" I had thought to ask him at one point over the course of a rambling interview conducted in the lead-up to LACMA's opening of his retrospective —provocatively, ironically titled, "Pure Beauty." A slightly exaggerated (to say nothing of irreverent) take on a persona which is, after all, pretty familiar to most people who frequent Los Angeles art galleries, and indeed almost anyone acquainted with contemporary art around the world. But there is only so much time for irreverence in the company of an artist of John Baldessari's stature.

Artful Living
East, West and The Restless

"Actions, Conversations, and Intersections" is a mind-boggling array of participatory projects at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (MAG). It includes dozens of artists or groups of artists calling themselves councils, banks, collectives, schools, ensembles or foundations.