Prima Facie Marilyn's Dress : a Poem (in Four Parts)

More than any other artist of his generation, the Los Angeles-based Conceptual artist John Baldessari explores the relationship between reading and seeing, between language and image. In this small, provocative artist's book, Baldessari presents 16 supposedly evocative colors along with the names that they were given by the American paint companies that produced them. Across from each solid colored left-hand page, the right page offers the color's title, creating a concrete poem in four parts. For example, in part one, "Organic Order" stands beside a mulchy green, "Creative Thinker" is paired with a deep purple, "Avant Garde" goes with mustard yellow, and "Abstract" is across from sea-green. Further on we learn that warm peachy-pink stands for "Love and Happiness," while warm pinky-peach represents "Beautiful in My Eyes." Source companies include Pratt & Lambert, Benjamin Moore and Pantone.