Bruce Nauman - Life and Work, Trivia

Sculptor, born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. He studied mathematics and art at Wisconsin University. In the 1960s he became a leading exponent of Conceptual Art, using neon lights and holograms in addition to producing minimalist sculptures from more conventional materials. Since 1970 he has worked chiefly with fibreglass and wood, exploring the relationship between sculpture and the gallery space.

Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is a contemporary American artist.

Life and Work

He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and art with William T. 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. 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 cites Samuel Beckett, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Cage, Philip Glass, La Monte Young and Meredith Monk as major influences on his work.

Works

Some of his better-known works include:

Clown Torture - in separate stacked video screens, a clown screaming "No" repeatedly, a clown telling an annoying child'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. 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.

Trivia

Nauman was one of the four performers of the rarely performed Steve Reich piece Pendulum Music on May 27th 1969 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Elusive Signs - Bruce Nauman Works with Light.