Video: ‘A Brief History of John Baldessari’ (narrated by Tom Waits)

Hunter Drohojowska-Philp regaled us yesterday with details about John Baldessari’s latest show for her weekly segment, we confessed that we’d not been clued in to this great artist until moving to LA– and even then, we copped to being fuzzy on the details of his work. KCRW producer, Avishay Artsy knew this salient fact: “He’s the one who puts dots over people’s faces, right?” Of course there’s been the retrospective at LACMA, and Hunter pointed out that Baldessari was featured in more Pacific Standard Time shows than any other artist.

But, she said, to really understand this towering giant of art (literally as well as figuratively, for he is 6’7″), and to appreciate his new works at the Margo Leavin Gallery in West Hollywood, we needed to watch this 6-minute documentary that breaks down the essence of this 82-year old southern California gem. It’s made by a duo in Brooklyn called Supermarche.

When Hunter gets enthusiastic, so do we. And you might, too, when you learn that this little film is narrated by Tom Waits (who happens to be from the same small town as Baldessari himself.) If only all art history was presented in such captivating fashion:

And here’s what Hunter had to say, both in pixels and on the radio.