Fox: Maquette for the Elbow Series (B1) 1999

This is John Baldessari's "Fox: Maquette for the Elbow Series (B1)," and it's like a visual puzzle, where images and words bump up against each other. Baldessari was a master of juxtaposition. Look at how he throws together that grainy image of a screaming head with the botanical study, the solid black square bearing only the word ‘FOX’ and the blank white space. He’s using found imagery, creating this weird, almost collage-like effect. It’s not about the slickness of the image, but the ideas it provokes, the feelings. The dark tones in the portrait and the solid black square create a sense of drama, while the plant offers a touch of the natural world, a quiet counterpoint. Then that screaming mouth! Baldessari's work always felt like a conversation, an exchange of ideas, which reminds me a bit of Sigmar Polke, in the way he messes with images and expectations. Art is, after all, about keeping the conversation going. It's not about answers, it's about asking better questions.