Bruce Nauman

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 Printmaking And Performance. 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. 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 Characterized By An Interest In Language Often Manifesting Itself In A Playful Mischievous Manner. 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 His Back. There Are However Very Serious Concerns At The Heart Of Nauman's Practice. He 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. Nauman Began In The 1960s With Exhibitions At Nick 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. Through Most Of His Midcareer Until The Early 1980s He Flew Just Below The Radar Of Art Market Experts. In 1993 Nauman Received The Wolf Prize In Arts An Israeli Award 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 Specifically For Display At The Tate Modern. Artfacts.Net Ranked Nauman As The Number One Among Living Artist In 2006 Followed By Gerhard Richter And Robert Rauschenberg. On January 25 2008 The 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 He Won The Prestigious Golden Lion. read less