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Bruce Nauman





Artist Information

  Name Bruce Nauman
  Location Fort Wayne , Indiana
  Nationality American
  Field Sculpture , Photography , Neon , Video , Drawing and Performance
  Training University Of Wisconsin-Madison
  Famous Works "Laair," 1970
  Awards Larry Aldrich Award


Bruce Nauman (born December 6 , 1941 , in Fort Wayne , Indiana ) is a contemporary American Artist . His practice spans a broad range of media including Sculpture , Photography , Neon , Video , Drawing and Performance .

LIFE AND WORK


Nauman studied Mathematics and Physics at the University Of Wisconsin-Madison , and art with William T. Wiley and Robert Arneson at the University Of California, Davis . He worked as an assistant to Wayne Thiebaud and in 1966 he became a teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute . In 1968 he met the singer and performance artist Meredith Monk and signed with the dealer Leo Castelli . In the 1980s he moved to New Mexico . Much of his work is characterised by an interest in language which often manifests itself in a playful, mischievous manner. For example, the neon ''Run From Fear- Fun From Rear'', or the photograph ''Bound To Fail'' which literalises the title phrase and shows the artist's arms tied behind his back. There are however, very serious concerns at the heart of the work. Nauman seems to be interested in the nature of communication and the inherent problems of language, as well as the role of the artist as supposed communicator and manipulator of visual language. Nauman received in 1993 the Wolf Prize in Arts (Israel) for his distinguished work as a sculptor and his extraordinary contribution to twentieth-century art. In 1999 he received the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale . In 2004 he created his work ''Raw Materials'' at Tate Modern . Artfacts.net ranked Nauman as the number one among living artist in 2006, followed by Gerhard Richter and Robert Rauschenberg . {Link without Title}

Nauman cites Samuel Beckett , Ludwig Wittgenstein , John Cage , Philip Glass , La Monte Young and Meredith Monk as major influences on his work. Nauman was a part of the Process Art Movement.


Works


Some of his better-known works include:

  • ''Laair'' (1970) - A soft-cover "book," considered to be a piece of art rather than a book, featuring only 10 color illustrations {Link without Title} of the Los Angeles skyline...no text.

  • ''Clown Torture'' - in separate stacked video screens, a clown screaming "No" repeatedly, a clown telling an annoying childrens' joke, a clown balancing goldfish bowls, and a clown sitting on a public toilet.

  • ''Vices and Virtues'' (1988) - Atop the Charles Lee Powell Structural Systems Laboratory on the campus of the University Of California, San Diego as part of the Stuart Collection of public art: neon signs seven feet tall, alternating the seven vices and seven virtues: FAITH/LUST, HOPE/ENVY, CHARITY/SLOTH, PRUDENCE/PRIDE, JUSTICE/AVARICE, TEMPERANCE/GLUTTONY, and FORTITUDE/ANGER.

  • ''The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths'' - a spiraling neon sign with this slogan.

  • ''Setting a Good Corner'' - looping video of the artist setting a corner fencepost.

  • ''World Peace'' - five projectors or video players displaying four women and a man each speaking simultaneous monologues about world peace.

  • ''Learned Helplessness in Rats (Rock and Roll Drummer)'' - maze, closed circuit video camera, video projector, two videotape players, two monitors, and two videotapes. collection of MOMA.



TRIVIA


Nauman was one of the four performers of the rarely performed Steve Reich piece '' Pendulum Music '' on May 27 , 1969 at the Whitney Museum Of American Art . The other three performers were Michael Snow , Richard Serra and James Tenney .

Nauman's work ''The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths'' is seen in the background of Eric Fischl 's ''Krefeld Project, Dining Room Scene 2.''


REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING



EXTERNAL LINKS

General and biographical
  • [http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/nauman/ About Bruce Nauman, PBS]

  • [http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/nauman/clip1.html Setting a Good Corner, an interview, PBS]

  • Bruce Nauman in artfacts

  • http://www.speronewestwater.com/cgi-bin/iowa/artists/record.html?record=1


Works by Bruce Nauman

Exhibitions

Review and criticism