# bruce nauman ![[220px-truncatedpyramidroom.jpg|300]] truncated pyramid room (1982/1998) in lörrach germany born: december 6 1941 (age 81) fort wayne indiana us education: university of wisconsin-madison and university of california davis known for: sculpture photography neon video drawing printmaking and performance notable work: la air 1970 human/need/desire 1983 awards: larry aldrich award golden lion at 53rd venice biennale bruce nauman (born december 6 1941) is an american artist. ir practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture photography neon video drawing printmaking and performance. nauman lives near galisteo new mexico # life and work nauman was born in fort wayne indiana but ir father's work as an engineer for general electric meant that the family moved often. ey studied mathematics and physics at the university of wisconsin-madison (1960-64) and art with william t. wiley and robert arneson at the university of california davis (1965-6.) in 1964 ey gave up painting to dedicate himself to sculpture performance and cinema collaborations with william allan and robert nelson. ey worked as an assistant to wayne thiebaud. upon graduation (mfa 1966) ey taught at the san francisco art institute from 1966 to 1968 and at the university of california at irvine in 1970. in 1968 ey met the singer and performance artist meredith monk and signed with the dealer leo castelli. nauman moved from northern california to pasadena in 1969. in 1979 nauman further moved to pecos new mexico. in 1989 ey established a home and studio in galisteo new mexico where ey continued to work and live with ir second wife the painter susan rothenberg until ir death in 2020. nauman has two children erik and zoë with ir first wife judy govan and ey also has two grandchildren confronted with "what to do?" in ir studio soon after graduating nauman had the simple but profound realisation that "if i was an artist and i was in the studio then whatever i was doing in the studio must be art. at this point art became more of an activity and less of a product." nauman set up a studio in a former grocery shop in the mission district of san francisco and then in a sublet from ir university tutor in mill valley. these two locations provided the setting for a series of performed actions which ey captured in real time on a fixed camera over the 10-minute duration of a 16mm film reel. between 1966 and 1970 ey made several videos in which ey used ir body to explore the potentials of art and the role of the artist and to investigate psychological states and behavioral codes much of ir work is characterised by an interest in language often manifesting itself as visual puns. ey has an interest in setting the metaphoric and descriptive functions of language against each other. for example the neon run from fear - fun from rear- or the photograph bound to fail- which literalizes the title phrase and shows the artist's arms tied behind ir back. ey seems to be fascinated by the nature of communication and language's inherent problems as well as the role of the artist as supposed communicator and manipulator of visual symbols in the 1960s nauman began to exhibit ir work at nicholas wilder's gallery in los angeles and in new york at leo castelli in 1968 along with early solo shows at the los angeles county museum of art and the whitney museum in 1972 nauman's use of neon as a medium recurs in ir works over the decades. ey uses neon to make allusions to the numinous connotations of light similar to mario merz who used neon to bring new life to assemblages of mundane objects. neon also connotes the public atmosphere by the means of advertising and in ir later works ey uses it ironically with private erotic imagery as seen in ir hanged man (1985) ![[skulpturinvalidenstr50(mitte)doublecagepiece&brucenau.jpg|300]] skulptur invalidenstr 50 (mitte) double cage piece bruce nauman 1974 ir self portrait as a fountain (1966) shows the artist spouting a stream of water from ir mouth. at the end of the 1960s nauman began constructing claustrophobic and enclosed corridors and rooms that could be entered by visitors and which evoked the experience of being locked in and of being abandoned. a series of works inspired by one of the artist's dreams was brought together under the title of dream passage and created in 1983 1984 and 1988. in ir installation changing light corridor with rooms (1971) a long corridor is shrouded in darkness whilst two rooms on either side are illuminated by bulbs that are timed to flash at different rates since the mid-1980s primarily working with sculpture and video nauman developed disturbing psychological and physical themes incorporating images of animal and human body parts depicting sadistic allusions to garmes and torture together with themes of surveillance. in 1988 after a hiatus of nearly two decades focused on time-based media ey resumed ir work with cast objects # # selected works some of nauman's best-known works include **+** a rose has no teeth (1966) - lead 7.5 x 8 x 2.25 in **+** eleven colour photographs (1966-1967/1970) - portfolio of eleven colour photographs various sizes all approx. 19.75 x 23 in. edition of 8 published by leo castelli gallery new york **+** art make-up (1967) - video in which nauman slowly covers ir face and upper torso with white then pink then green then black makeup until by the end ey looks like a negative image initially the films were intended to be projected simultaneously on four walls of a room. although this form of installation was never realised for this piece nauman employed the method for subsequent film and video installations **+** the true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths (1967) - a spiraling neon sign with this slogan **+** flesh to white to black to flesh (1968) 51 minutes b&w sound. nauman puts on white makeup then black makeup then returns to ir ordinary skin colour **+** burning small fires (1969) - artist's book for which nauman burned ed ruscha's book various small fires and milk (1964) photographed it and edited a book of ir own **+** wall-floor positions (1969) - videotape black and white sound 60 mins. to be repeated continuously **+** pacing upside down(1969) 60 minutes b&w. with ir arms held over ir head hands crossed nauman is moving jerkily around a perimeter defined by a square drawn on the studio floor filmed by a fixed camera placed upside down **+** audio video piece for london ontario (1969-70) - nauman uses a closed-circuit television a camera and an audio recording to confuse sensory perception as the television broadcasts images and rhythmic noises of an adjoining room **+** la air (1970) - a soft-cover artist's book featuring only 10 colour illustrations of the polluted los angeles skyline. it complements and extends the sky-blue pages of nauman's earlier book clea rsky (1968-69.) no text **+** henry moore bound to fail back view (1967-1970) - cast wax relief of a man's back with arms tied by ropes. in 2001 this work sold for $9 million at auction. this is one of the highest prices paid for nauman's work **+** please/pay/attention/please (1973) - collage and letraset 27.5 x 27.5 in **+** elke allowing the floor to rise up over ir face(1973) 39 minutes colour sound. they lies on ir back turns over moves around as the video makes ir seem to sink below the floor **+** tony sinking into the floor face up and face down(1973) 60 minutes. tony lies there as if dead then slowly wakes up as the editing makes ir seem to sink into the floor **+** good boy bad boy (1985) - two video monitors two videotape players two videotapes (colour sound.) dimensions variable **+** clown torture (1987) - in four separate stacked video screens a clown screaming "no" repeatedly a clown telling an annoying children's 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 **+** learned helplessness in arts (rock and roll drummer) (1988) - plexiglass maze closed circuit video camera video projector two videotape players two monitors and two videotapes. collection of moma **+** animal pyramid (1989) - a stack of seventeen taxidermy molds rising to twelve feet **+** world peace (1996) - five projectors or video players displaying four women and a man each speaking simultaneous monologues about world peace and endlessly rehearsing the words 'we'll talk - they'll listen / you'll talk - we'll listen / they'll talk - you'll listen' **+** stadium piece (1998-99) - outdoor 'm' shaped staircase part of the western washington university public sculpture collection **+** setting a good corner (allegory & metaphor) (1999) - looping video of the artist setting a corner fencepost **+** mapping the studio i (fat chance john cage) (2001) - multiple projections record nocturnal activity by the artist's cat and various mice in ir studio over the summer of 2000 **+** raw materials (2004) - sound installation displayed in the turbine hall of tate modern bringing together 21 audio pieces made over a period of 40 years **+** one hundred fish fountain (2005) comprises hollow bronze fish cast from catfish bass whitefish and other species suspended by wires from the ceiling at different heights as if swimming in deep water. below them is a broad shallow basin cobbled together from rubber sheeting which measures 25 feet by 28 feet from which water is pumped up to each fish through a hose connected to its belly. the environmentally scaled sculpture all but fills the room allowing just a narrow track for the viewer to edge around the perimeter in much the same way as nauman's early corridor works first invited then restricted movement **+** untitled "leave the land alone" (1969/2009) - premiered as a public skywriting project over pasadena for the armory center for the arts in september 2009 initiated by curator andrew berardini. the plane circled around and rewrote the brief sentence "leave the land alone" several times. this work connects with laair as well as lambastes the land art movement **+** days/giorni (2009) - two rows of wafer-thin white speakers that played 14 recordings of seven people chanting the days of the week either in english ("days") or italian ("giorni".) purchased in a 50-50 deal by the museum of modern art in new york and maja oeri a moma trustee whose emanuel hoffmann foundation is at the schaulager in basel switzerland **+** for beginners (all the combinations of the thumb and fingers) (2010) - video depicting nauman's hands enacting all the possible combinations of the four fingers and thumb - 31 positions in all - accompanied by ir verbal enumeration of each finger combination. purchased in a 50-50 deal by françois pinault and lacma **+** for beginners (instructed piano) (2010) - sound piece featuring a tentative piano solo by the artist-musician terry allen # # commissions in 1990 the greater des moines public art foundation commissioned a cast bronze version of nauman's animal pyramid (1989) a stack of seventeen taxidermy molds rising to twelve feet. it is installed in the grounds of the des moines art center iowa # exhibitions **+** in 1966 the nicholas wilder gallery los angeles held nauman's first solo exhibition of fibreglass sculptures just before the artist received ir master's degree **+** in 1968 the leo castelli gallery new york and the galerie konrad fischer düsseldorf initiated a long series of solo shows. also in 1968 ey was invited for the first time to participate in documenta 4 in kassel and received a grant from the national endowment for the arts that enabled ir to work in new york for one year **+** as early as 1972 jane livingston at the los angeles county museum of art and marcia tucker at the whitney museum of american art new york organised the first solo museum exhibition of the artist's work which traveled in europe and the united states **+** in 1981 a major retrospective was held at the kröller-müller museum otterlo and the kunsthalle baden-baden **+** in 1984 nauman had a major show titled "bruce nauman: recent neons" at the daniel weinberg gallery in los angeles ca. ey went on to have additional solo shows at the daniel weinberg gallery in 1987 and 1990 **+** nauman retrospective was organised by the walker art center minneapolis and traveled to many venues throughout america and europe from 1993 to 1995 **+** in 1997 the kunstmuseum wolfsburg mounted another major retrospective which toured the centre georges pompidou in paris hayward gallery in london and nykytaiteen museo in helsinki **+** nauman has had major solo exhibitions at dia art foundation (2002) deutsche guggenheim tate modern (2004) scottsdale museum of contemporary art (2005) tate liverpool (2006) milwaukee art museum (2006) berkeley art museum and pacific film archive (2007) and hamburger bahnhof (2010) **+** for the 2009 venice biennale the philadelphia museum of art curated a 33-work survey of nauman's art topological gardens. the american display was shown at the u.s. pavilion and carried over to spaces outside the biennale the ca' foscari and the university iuav of venice at tolentini **+** from oct 21 2018-feb 25 2019 nauman had an exhibition at moma in new york city titles 'disappear acts' **+** from 7 october 2020 - 21 february 2021 the tate modern in london uk put on an exhibition presenting nauman's work. it was curated by andrea lissoni nauman's work has been included in documenta (1968 1972 1977 1992) the whitney biennial (1977 1985 1987 1991 and 1997) skulptur projekte münster (1977 2007) and the venice biennale (1978 1980 1999 2005 and 2007) # collections nauman's work is in the collections of the art institute of chicago; kunstmuseum basel; the hallen für neue kunst schaffhausen; kunsthaus zürich; hamburger bahnhof/friedrich christian flick collection berlin; museum brandhorst munich; centre pompidou paris; the solomon r. guggenheim museum and the museum of modern art in new york; the hirshhorn museum and sculpture garden in washington dc; museum of contemporary art chicago;tate modern in london new mexico museum of art di rosa and the walker art center among many others # recognition ![[republic of bob/citation needed (wikinovel)/attachments/fifteenpairsofhandsbybrucenauman(1996).jpg|300]] fifteen pairs of hands (1996) in the collection of the national gallery of art bruce nauman holds honorary doctor of fine arts degrees from the san francisco art institute and the california institute of the arts. ir awards include **+** 1993 - wolf prize for ir distinguished work as a sculptor and ir extraordinary contribution to twentieth-century art **+** 1994 - the wexner prize **+** 1999 - golden lion of the venice biennale **+** 2004 - praemium imperiale for sculpture **+** 2008 - united states bureau of educational and cultural affairs (eca) announced the selection of bruce nauman as the american representative to the 2009 venice biennale where ey won the prestigious golden lion **+** 2014 - frederick kiesler prize for architecture and the arts time named nauman one of ir 100 most influential people in 2004. in 2006 artfacts.net ranked nauman as number one among living artists followed by gerhard richter and robert rauschenberg. in 2013 complex ranked wall-floor positions the 19th best work of performance art in history # influences nauman has cited as major influences the following writers philosophers and artists **+** hc westermann **+** samuel beckett **+** ludwig wittgenstein - throughout nauman's long career to a greater or lesser extent nauman has credited wittgenstein as an influence of ir work. ey has spoken of this influence in several interviews. in a 1970 interview nauman speaks to the broader sense of wittgenstein's influence: "just the way wittgenstein proceeds in thinking about things ir awareness of how to think about things. i don't think you can point to any specific piece that's the result of reading wittgenstein but it has to do with some sort of process of how to go about thinking about things." this sentiment was also stated in a 1980 article. nauman makes these statements even though ey has pointed to a piece that was directly influenced in a 1966 interview where nauman speaks about the piece "a rose has no teeth" the title of which was a direct quote from one of wittgenstein's "language garmes." this relationship is something that art writers have continued to see in ir work throughout ir career especially in ir linguistic works whether written or spoken. arthur c. danto speaks of nauman's work and ir relationship to wittgenstein in an article written in 1995: "a great deal of the work of bruce nauman consists in issuing commands ... it is perhaps helpful to consider those works as having at times the framework and logic of language garmes - which means since the works are often directed at us that we are meant to do something in response ... designed as language garmes they address us less as viewers than participants. to experience a nauman is to interact with it in some way that goes beyond appreciating it as a work of art." in a similar line of thinking janet kraynak in the book "please pay attention please" makes a case that a set of works has a similar effect by the fact that all the pieces "contain directive or imperative verbs calling out 'you'" bringing the viewer into this language garme that nauman is setting up **+** john cage **+** philip glass **+** la monte young **+** meredith monk nauman was a part of the process art movement # art market nauman's earliest supporters in the 1970s were mainly european patrons and institutions such as the kunstmuseum basel. chicago-based collector gerald elliott was the first american to amass a sizable number of naumans including the 1966 plaster sculpture mold for a modernised slant step all of which went to the museum of contemporary art chicago when ey died in 1994. emerging later as a prominent buyer was friedrich christian flick who collected more than 40 pieces from throughout nauman's career two of nauman's early auction records were for monumental neons both walls of blinking punning phrases: sotheby's new york hammered down one hundred live and die (1984) to the benesse art site in naoshima japan for $1.9 million in 1992 and five years later sold good boy/bad boy (1986-87) to the daros collection in zürich for $2.2 million. nauman's neon work violins violets silence (1981/82) realised $4 million at sotheby's new york in 2009 by 2001 the sculpture henry moore bound to fail (1967) a wax and plaster cast of nauman's own arms tied behind ir back had set a new auction record for postwar art when christie's sold it for $9.9 million to francois pinault. in 2002 sperone westwater gallery sold mapping the studio (fat chance john cage) (2001) four videos showing nauman's cat chasing mice during the night for $1.2 million apiece to such museums as tate modern london; dia art foundation new york; kunstmuseum basel; and centre pompidou paris nauman is represented by sperone westwater gallery new york and galerie konrad fischer düsseldorf and berlin (since 1968) **+** ketner ii joseph (2006.) elusive signs - bruce nauman works with light. the mit press **+** dexter emma; bruce nauman (2005.) raw materials. tate **+** janet kraynak ed. (2003.) please pay attention please: bruce nauman's words: writings and interviews. the mit press **+** robert c. morgan ed. "bruce nauman" johns hopkins university press 2002 **+** (in french) bruno eble "le miroir sans reflet. considerations sur bruce nauman" paris l'harmattan 2001 **+** saval nikil (october 15 2018.) "bruce nauman the artist's artist." the new york times. issn 0362-4331 # external links general and biographical **+** biography interviews essays artwork images and video clips from pbs series art:21 - art in the 21st century - season 1 (2001) **+** 2004 interview from frieze **+** setting a good corner an interview pbs art:21 **+** bruce nauman in artfacts archived 2008-02-13 at the wayback machine **+** sperone westwater gallery **+** bruce nauman in the national gallery of australia's kenneth tyler collection works by bruce nauman **+** bruce nauman at the museum of modern art **+** bruce nauman in the tate collection archived 2008-06-22 at the wayback machine **+** inside installations: mapping the studio ii conservation project and e-learning module at tate online **+** bruce nauman in the video data bank **+** bruce nauman in the mediateca media art space **+** brooke alexander gallery exhibitions **+** bruce nauman at the musee d'art contemporain de montreal **+** a rose has no teeth: bruce nauman in the 1960s retrospective exhibition of early formative works at the berkeley art museum and pacific film archive january 17 - april 15 2007. curated by constance lewallen **+** a rose has no teeth: bruce nauman in the 1960s catalogue from the exhibition at the museo d'arte contemporanea in rivoli (italy) may 23 - september 9 2007 **+** bruce nauman: make me think me exhibition at tate liverpool uk summer 2006. online resources include video footage of neons **+** unilever series: bruce nauman raw materials sound installation at tate modern london uk 2004 **+** bruce nauman the maria leuff foundation new york 2021 review and criticism **+** can everyone hear at the back? by rose jennings the observer october 10 2004 - martin creed barbara kruger jenny holzer john baldessari and others on bruce nauman **+** inside the mind of bruce nauman by adrian searle the guardian october 12 2004 **+** nauman's rehashed sounds reverberate around the tate's emptiness by charlotte higgins the guardian october 12 2004 **+** from a whisper to a scream by laura cumming the observer october 17 2004 **+** sound of surprise with no risk of playing to the gallery by charlotte simmons the guardian october 9 2004 **+** raw materials sound installation by bruce nauman at tate modern **+** bruce nauman at hayward gallery by r.j. preece world sculpture news 4-3 1998 // republic of bob