Born in 1941 in Fort Wayne,
Indiana, Bruce Nauman has been recognized since the early 1970s
as one of the most innovative and provocative of America’s
contemporary artists. Nauman finds inspiration in the activities, speech,
and materials of everyday life. Confronted with “What to do?”
in his studio soon after graduating from the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, in 1964 with a BFA, and then the University of California,
Davis in 1966 with an MFA, Nauman had the simple but profound realization
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.” Working in the diverse mediums of sculpture,
video, film, printmaking,
performance,
and
installation,
Nauman concentrates less on the development of a characteristic
style and more on the way in which a
process
or activity can transform or become a work of art. A survey of his
diverse output demonstrates the alternately political, prosaic,
spiritual,
and crass methods by which Nauman examines life in all its gory
details, mapping the human arc between life and death. The text
from an early neon work proclaims: “The true artist helps the
world by revealing mystic truths.” Whether or not we—or
even Nauman—agree with this statement, the underlying subtext
of the piece emphasizes the way in which the audience, artist, and
culture
at large are involved in the resonance a work of art will ultimately
have. Nauman lives in New Mexico.
For additional biographic & bibliographic information:
Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York | Donald Young Gallery, Chicago
Bruce Nauman on the Art21 blog |
