Museum gotta see 'um

Baldessari continued to employ photography in the 1980s, particularly movie stills, which he shaped, altered, framed and rearranged without text in order to trigger new meanings. Among the 100 prints of his post-painting period on display are "Stonehenge (with Two Persons) Blue” and "Throwing 4 Balls in the Air to Get a Square,” (in which the artist attempted to do just that, photographing the results, and eventually selecting the "best out of 36 tries,” with 36 being the determining number just because that is the standard number of shots on a roll of 35mm film.)

In conjunction with the retrospective, the Legion has created a Being John Baldessari Art Studio, an interactive space in which visitors can experiment with images and create variations with magnetic art. In addition, on Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. printmaking is demonstrated by a different artist each week.

The Legion of Honor Museum is located in Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement Street, San Francisco. Museum hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m; closed on Monday. For information about admission prices and docent tours of the exhibit visit www.legionofhonor.org or call (415) 750-3600. The John Baldessari retrospective runs through Nov. 8, 2009. For more information about this artist and his work visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baldessari.