Bruce Nauman

(American, born 1941)

Bruce Nauman is an American Conceptual artist working in a wide array of media that includes neon lights, video, and performance. A central figure of 1970s art and pioneer in the development of Post-Minimal art, Nauman’s greatest contribution is perhaps his self-analytic investigations of the creative mind and its doubts concerning the production of art. “If I was an artist and I was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art,” he once remarked. “At this point, art became more of an activity and less of a product.” His iconic neon sign sculpture Run From Fear – Fun From Rear (1972) demonstrates his ability to play with and expose the difficulties of translating creative thoughts into language or acts. Born on December 6, 1941 in Fort Wayne, IN, Nauman studied mathematics at the University of Wisconsin before shifting his focus to art, going on to receive his MFA from the University of California and study under William T. Wiley. The influential artist has participated in the 1977, 1985, 1987, 1991, and 1997 Whitney Biennales, with his work is included in the permanent collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Kunstmuseum in Basel, and many others. Nauman lives and works in Galisteo, NM.