JOHN BALDESSARI

From his home in Santa Monica, Baldessari has a front-row seat to observe the spread of celebrity culture. And the art world has not been immune. In recent years, he has watched as celebrities have been the subject of exhibitions and a young generation has aspired to become artists as a means to achieve fame."Quite often here in Los Angeles at the opening of shows at museums, they have hundreds of paparazzi and people from the movie industry," he says. "It is getting to the point where these shows are just for the benefit of people showcasing themselves. The artist is now becoming the work of art and people who are not artists but have some eccentric behaviour are becoming works of art . . . the tail is beginning to wag the dog."Baldessari has spent most of his life in Los Angeles, a city more associated with film and music than cutting-edge art. He is not the only visual artist to have done so – Bill Viola, Ed Ruscha and David Hockney also call it home – and says there's a freedom in living far from the art world centres of New York or Europe

www.smh.com