ew Works by John Baldessari Exhibited in Metropolitan Museum's Great Hall

Two new and monumental photo-compositions by John Baldessari are now on view in the Metropolitan Museum's Great Hall. Titled Palm Tree/Seascape and Brain/Cloud, these murals are a commission specially made by the artist for his soon-to-be-open retrospective exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, John Baldessari: Pure Beauty.

Palm Tree/Seascape and Brain/Cloud are 27-foot-wide printed canvases. Each covers an entire section of wall in the Museum's dramatic, domed Great Hall. Palm Tree/Seascape depicts a single palm tree perfectly centered in front of an idealized seascape, while Brain/Cloud is an image of a brain-shaped cloud-or a cloud-like brain-floating on a sky-blue background.

John Baldessari (b. 1931) is one of the most influential contemporary artists of the past 50 years and is widely renowned as a pioneer of conceptual art. The first major U.S. exhibition in 20 years to survey his work, John Baldessari: Pure Beauty, will open at the Metropolitan Museum on October 20, 2010.

John Baldessari's Brain/Cloud and Palm Tree/Seascape are now on view in the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum (through January 9, 2011).

The exhibition John Baldessari: Pure Beauty will be presented at the Metropolitan Museum October 20, 2010 - January 9, 2011.