The texts in this two-volume set trace the development of John Baldessari’s understanding of art from the early 1960s through to the present. His writings in this volume (1975–2011) address a broad range of topics, from the system he uses to classify material in the studio, his tributes to other artists, through money in the art world. Principle among Baldessari’s themes is his long-standing investigation into the similarity and possible interchangeability of word and image. In his view, words have the advantage of being the most abstract though paradoxically the most common and understood form of communication, thus making it possible to catch more of the world in the net—not just the picturesque. All the writings included here are motivated by that impulse and to ever expand the possibility of art.

This second volume of JRP|Ringier’s complete John Baldessari writings traces the genesis and development of the artist’s understanding of art in the early 1960s through to the present. More Than You Wanted to Know About John Baldessari presents Baldessari as storyteller, moralist, teacher and occasional gadfly, always concerned to accomplish what he describes as the central task of art making: to communicate in a way that people can understand. These writings address everything from matters of color in sculpture, to the dilemmas of art students in need of ideas, to the art world’s ever-conflicted relationship with money, while always returning to Baldessari’s love of language and his longstanding investigation into the tensions of word and image. With numerous never-before-published texts and facsimiles of original documents, this long-anticipated collection will prove essential reading for anyone involved in contemporary art.