BRUCE NAUMAN

‘Raw War’ (1971)’, ‘Study for Holograms A & E (1970)’ and ‘Infrared Outtakes (2006)’ are all on loan from the Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody. This selection of works exemplifies the artists experimentation with text and his use of the body and documenting of the body to create work with what he had on hand. Games or distortions of language and body are the medium and the viewer is given the opportunity to see the significance in the simple, yet powerful actions documented.

Bruce Nauman has been recognized since the early ‘70s as one of the most innovative and provocative of America’s contemporary artists. Confronted with the question “What to do?” in his studio soon after leaving school, 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.