Bruce Nauman
Subtitle: the true artist
By: Peter Plagens
Contributors: Nauman, Bruce, 1941- artist
Publisher: Phaidon Press Limited
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 287
ISBN-13: 9780714849959
Subjects: Criticism and interpretation
Other titles: True artist
Description: Bruce Nauman (b. 1941) is one of the most innovative, provocative and influential artists working today. His pioneering explorations of sculpture, performance, sound, video and installations--always questioning the role of the artist--have broken new ground and inspired innumerable artists' careers. Confronted with what to do in his studio soon after graduating, 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." Exploring Nauman's relationship to the place where he creates his strikingly original works, this book retraces back to the artist's youth in Fort Wayne, Indiana, his graduate work at the University of California, Davis, through to the present day. Nauman's continual search for new means and sources of expression have led him to experiment with a very wide variety of medium (photography, performance, sculpture, installations, video, neon sign, and sound) as well as to explore the relationship between words and images. Nauman's apotheosis as one of the world's most highly lauded artists came as he was ranked No. 1 in the world by Artfacts.net in 2006, and he was the sole US representative in the American Pavilion at the 2009 Venice Biennale.
Notes: Includes extensive quotations from the artist's interviews and writings.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 282-284) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Schooling the school; title: The true artist; title: Negative space; title: American abroad; title: Nauman in New York; title: The dancer from the dance and the L.A. retrospective; title: Upping the ante, leaving town; title: Video redux; title: Political art; title: Horses and other animals; title: The late show; title: Deft in Venice; title: Nauman now; title: Appendices