John Baldessari

DEER AND OCTOPUS
1986

A piece of abstract art featuring a black octopus-like figure centered on a background with patches of orange and green, all on a white canvas with rough edges.
A piece of abstract art featuring a black octopus-like figure centered on a background with patches of orange and green, all on a white canvas with rough edges.

Not on view

Date
1986

Classification
Prints

Medium
Photogravure

Dimensions
Sheet: 30 × 22 5/16in. (76.2 × 56.7 cm) Image: 12 7/8 × 19 5/16in. (32.7 × 49.1 cm)

Accession number
87.32.10

Edition
12/35 | 10 APs, 1 PP, 1 BAT, 1 Exhibition proof

Publication
Printed by Sally Sturman; printed by Mark Sofield; published by Multiples, Inc.; published by Marian Goodman Gallery

Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Neysa McMein Purchase Award

Rights and reproductions
© John Baldessari
Permission courtesy of the artist

API
artworks/7179

Part of a series:
Hegel's Cellar
10 works

A black and white photograph depicting a solitary individual rowing a small boat on a calm body of water, with a vast expanse of blank space above suggesting a foggy or overcast sky.
A historical black and white photo depicting a group of people, possibly soldiers, in motion, partially obscured by a solid blue horizontal strip across the lower section of the image. The photo is mounted on a white background with a rough left edge.
A piece of abstract art featuring a black octopus-like figure centered on a background with patches of orange and green, all on a white canvas with rough edges.
A collage featuring abstract black and white elements with a textured appearance. The top portion shows a large, dark silhouette with a cutout revealing a small square image of a woman's face, her mouth slightly open as if in mid-speech. Below, two circular cutouts on a black background frame images of hands in expressive gestures, one hand's fingers spread wide and the other forming a loose fist. The overall composition is stark and evocative, playing with contrast and the human form.
A black and white artwork depicting two halves of a suited figure, each holding a revolver, with the image split down the middle by a black void.
A composite image with two distinct halves. The top half shows a human arm reaching out towards a tree stump surrounded by yellow-tinted grass. The bottom half depicts a green-tinted vintage diving helmet with intricate details, set against a dark background.
A black and white image featuring a cut-out silhouette of a bird in flight at the top and a close-up of hands sewing a constellation pattern onto a piece of fabric below. The hands appear to be carefully connecting dots with thread to create the constellation. The overall composition has an artistic, collage-like quality.
This is a mixed media artwork featuring four horizontal sections. The top three sections are blocks of color with simple line drawings: blue with a contour of a hand, green with a contour of a forearm and hand, and yellow with a line suggesting continuation of the arm. The bottom section is a black and white photograph of a horse jumping over a fence, set against a backdrop of trees and a pasture. The overall composition suggests a surreal landscape with the horse appearing to leap through the color fields.
A black and white photograph is split into two scenes with large red and green dots superimposed on each half. The left side shows a densely packed crowd of people reaching upwards, possibly at a rally or public gathering, with uniformed figures standing above them on a balcony. The right side depicts a chaotic scene with people in a boat and others in the water, suggesting a rescue or disaster scenario. The dots obscure central details of each scene.
Black and white photo of two separate images, one above the other, with red outlines drawn on them.

John Baldessari
40 works in the collection

View artist

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.