> DESCRIPTION
Bruce Nauman has been recognized since the early 1970s as one of the United States’ most innovative and provocative contemporary artists. Although Nauman works in diverse media, Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light focuses solely on the artist’s experimentation with light. Consisting of approximately 15 works, the exhibition explores Nauman’s early neon pieces that confront issues of identity; works from the 1970s that emphasize neon as a sign and present provocative twists of language; and his most recent figurative neon works. Working in his first professional studio, the neon beer signs in the shop fronts of his San Francisco neighborhood intrigued Nauman, who became determined to subvert the commercial purpose of the advertisements. He was acutely aware of the confrontational potential of neon when exhibited in a museum or gallery and offered harsh and humorous socio-political commentary in his work, acknowledging the great power of images to convey ideas.
Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light is organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum, curated by Chief Curator, Joseph D. Kettner II. The exhibition is sponsored by Andy and Carlene Ziegler.
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