Bruce Nauman

North Miami, FL - Recognized as one of America's most provocative and
innovative artists working today, Bruce Nauman addresses the essential
elements of human existence, challenging the parameters of contemporary
art through nontraditional materials.

A major retrospective exhibition of Nauman's work in neon and
fluorescent light will be on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art
(MOCA) from October 13, 2006 through January 7, 2007. Titled Elusive
Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light, the exhibition includes16 of
Nauman's word play and identity signs, fluorescent light environments,
and figurative neons, from the 1960s through the mid-1980s.

Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light is organized by the
Milwaukee Museum of Art in Wisconsin, and curated by Joseph D. Ketner,
II, chief curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The exhibition will be on view at MOCA during the Art Basel Miami Beach
fair. Following its presentation in Miami, it will travel to venues in
Washington, Montreal, and Australia.

Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light traces Nauman's use of
light as a medium that is both sensual and contemplative while
aggressively penetrating the environment with its message and imagery.
Nauman varies his artistic process to meet the demands of his ideas,
using a variety of media. Light, an enduring symbol for spiritual
invigoration, offered the artist a medium with which to explore how
perception is shaped, and logic and meaning is conveyed. In Nauman's
hands, the playful carnival-like nature of neon is transformed into
psychological, social, sexual and political inquiry, often presented
with irony and humor.

"This exhibition is all about the visitor's experience," said Joseph D.
Ketner II. "Visitors will walk into a gallery full of neon signs and
fluorescent light environments. They'll experience a disorientation of
light and space, just as Nauman intended."

Nauman, a Wisconsin native who lives in New Mexico, first worked with
light in the mid-1960s at which time he became intrigued with the neon
advertising signs on the streets outside his studio. His early light
series grappled with the semiotics of body and identity. Neon Templates
of the Left Half of My Body Taken at Ten-Inch Intervals (1966), which
grew out of a performance work, is an innovative exercise in
portraiture as sculpture. The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing
Mystic Truths (Window or Wall Sign), 1967 challenges art as
transformative. My Name As Though It Were Written on the Surface of
Moon (1968) addresses name in relation to identity while at the same
time challenging the value placed on an artist's signature.

Nauman's word game neons evoke poetry that cuts to the essence of the
human condition. The confrontational potential of neon offers harsh and
socio-political commentary in such pieces as Raw War (1970), Violins
Violence Silence (1981-82) and Run From Fear, Fun from Rear (1972). The
monumental One Hundred Live and Die (1984), his largest and most
complex neon piece, overwhelms the viewer with strong directives.

Nauman's fluorescent light environments use illumination and mirrors to
create oblique, disorienting spaces such as Corridor with Mirror and
White Lights (1971) that is a marked contrast to the bright imagery and
clipped language of the neon signs.

The pictorial potential of signs is portrayed in the series of large
works representing life sizes figure in flashing lights which simulate
action. The humor of the stick-figured Hanged Man (1985) quickly turns
to horror when the game culminates with a graphic execution. The jerky
interaction of the two figures in Mean Clown Welcome (1985) suggest the
conflicting forces of attraction and repulsion in human relationships,
as the figures both welcome and battle one another.

Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works With Light is sponsored by Andy and
Carlene Ziegler.

At MOCA, the exhibition is sponsored in part by Daniel and Toni Holtz,
Jeanne and Michael Klein and Jacquelyn Klein.

Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works With Light will be on view at MOCA
North Miami through January 7, 2006 after which it will travel to the
Henry Gallery, University of Washington, the Musee d'art contemporain
de Montreal; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Victoria and
Queensland Art Gallery, Australia. A 96-page catalogue accompanies the
exhibition with essays by Joseph Ketner II, chief curator of the
Milwaukee Art Museum, Janet Kraynak, a New York based art historian,
and critic Gregory Volk.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is located at 770 NE 125th Street in
North Miami, Florida. It is open to the public Tuesday - Saturday,
11:00 am - 5:00 pm; Sunday, noon - 5:00 pm. The museum is also open on
the last Friday of each month with special evening hours from 7:00 -
10:00 pm. Admission is free for MOCA members, City of North Miami
residents and employees, children under 12; $5 adults; $3 seniors and
students with ID.

The museum's new annex MOCA at Goldman Warehouse is located in the
Wynwood Arts District at 404 NW 26th Street, just north of Downtown
Miami. It is open to the public by donation, Wednesday through Saturday
noon - 5:00 PM, with evening hours on the second Saturday of the month
from 7:00 - 10:00 PM.

For further information call 305-893-6211 or visit the web site
www.mocanomi.org.

More MOCA as MOCA turns 10!

Exhibitions and programs at MOCA are made possible through grants from
the City of North Miami, the Florida Arts Council, the Department of
State, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Cultural
Affairs Council, the Mayor and Miami-Dade Board of County
Commissioners.

The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami is accredited by the
American Association of Museums.