John Baldessari - special film screenings at the Met

Two short films will be shown on 30 November in conjunction with John Baldessari's Pure Beauty exhibition, currently on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.(until 9 January)

Art in Progress: John Baldessari (30 mins) (2007), which will be the first screened at 2.00pm, was directed by Marina Zenovich and is one of a six-part series which also includes documentaries about artists Julian Schnabel and Takashi Murakami. This film follows Baldessari as he prepares for his major exhibitions in Europe and the United States.

The second film focusing on Baldessari, by Susan Sollins and Charles Atlas for contemporary art TV series Art21, shows the artist in his studio as he contemplates the choices he makes in his conceptual art and the resulting systematic connection to language and words. 

Pure Beauty was previously shown this summer at Los Angeles County Museum of Art - and at Tate Modern, London, prior to that - in a retrospective that many felt was long overdue. The exhibition features over 150 of Baldessari's works, from paintings to video works, that span the artist's lengthy career.

Follow the link to a Q&A interview with the artist for Tate Etc. Magazine