Bruce Nauman’s film work, neon signs, sculptures and more featured in new retrospective

Spanning from his re-examinations of the artist’s studio to his manipulations into space and light and investigations into our understanding of language.

A new retrospective celebrating American artist Bruce Nauman is opening at London’s Tate Modern, this October.

Born in 1941, Nauman’s work spans mediums including sculpture, neon signs, video and sound – all threaded together by his desire to investigate “the possibilities of what art may be.”

Bringing together over 40 pieces across his 50-year career, Bruce Nauman offers insight into the varying strands of his work: his interest in surveillance, re-examinations of the artist’s studio, the body, and his manipulation of space and light.

The retrospective ultimately “reveals how Nauman has transformed the way we think about art by exploring our understanding of language and our perception of our physical and psychological place in the world,” explains Tate.

Bruce Nauman will run at Tate Modern from 7th October 2020 through 21st February 2021.

Head here for more info.

Opening hours and address:

Tate Modern, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG

Monday to Sunday: 10:00am – 6:00pm

Photo credit, in order of appearance: Bruce Nauman, The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths (Window or Wall Sign) 1967, Kunstmuseum Basel, © Bruce Nauman / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020, Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York; Bruce Nauman, Falls, Pratfalls and Sleights of Hand (Clean Version) 1993  Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020; Bruce Nauman, Anthro / Socio (Rinde Spinning) 1992, © Hamburger Kunsthalle / bpk © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, photo: Kay Riechers to: Christoph Irrgang, © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020; Bruce Nauman, A Cast of the Space Under My Chair 1965–1968,Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands. Formerly in the Visser Collection. Purchased with support from the Mondriaan Foundation © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020; Bruce Nauman, Black Marble Under Yellow Light 1987, “la Caixa” Collection. Contemporary Art © Nacho López, © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020; Bruce Nauman, Good Boy Bad Boy 1985, Tate: Purchased 1994, © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020; Bruce Nauman, Walking in an Exaggerated Manner Around the Perimeter of a Square 1967–1968, Exhibition file courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020; Bruce Nauman, Clown Torture 1987, The Art Institute of Chicago, Watson F. Blair Prize, Wilson L. Mead, and Twentieth-Century Purchase funds; through prior gift of Joseph Winterbotham; gift of Lannan Foundation, 1997.162 © Bruce Nauman / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020, Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York; Bruce Nauman, My Name As Though It Were Written on the Surface of the Moon 1968, Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam © Bruce Nauman / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020, Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York; Bruce Nauman, One Hundred Live and Die 1984; Collection Benesse Holdings, Inc./Benesse House Museum, Naoshima © Bruce Nauman / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020, Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York.