Bruce Nauman

Since the late 1960s, Bruce Nauman (born 1941) has developed an astounding body of work combining sculpture, video, neon, installation and performance art. Nauman explores the body and identity, the function of language, the perception of space and the participation of spectators. He is also particularly interested in the world of dance; influenced by his encounter with John Cage and Merce Cunningham, in 1967 he began producing a series of filmed performances in which banal, everyday gestures or simple phrases are repeated methodically. In the 1970s and 1980s, he used neon in his works, playing with words or representing sexual scenes. Nauman’s more recent pieces continue to question the ideas or concepts he has explored since the beginning of his career, adding to an exceptionally rich body of work.
Designed in close collaboration with the artist, and published for an exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, Bruce Nauman presents photographs, notes, and sketches alongside excellent reproductions of art, all from the last four years, that allow the reader to gain a deeper understanding of a work that mines a terrain between conceptual and minimalist art.