On March 11, artist Bruce Naumann's first large-scale solo exhibition in China was officially unveiled at the Mumu Art Museum (Qianliang Hutong Hall). Unlike its previous research-based exhibitions, this exhibition will focus on and tease out his performance art, neon "logos", and artistic creations based on sound and moving images while looking back at the artist's more than 50 years of artistic practice.
Born in the United States in 1941, Bruce Naumann has held numerous major exhibitions at international authorities, and his work has been exhibited at at least six times at the Venice Biennale and twice awarded the Golden Lion. The exhibition "Bruce Naumann: OK OK OK" is presented by mummy art gallery in collaboration with Tate Modern in London and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, bringing Naumann's pioneering practice of fifty years to Beijing. Wang Zongfu, Artistic Director of Mumu Art Museum, said: "Bruce Naumann is a crucial figure in the history of art development, he not only created new art categories, but also inspired generations of Chinese and international artists with his creative practice full of spiritual quality. From his early works of performance to his corridor installations, Naumann reminds us that mind and body are intimately intertwined through emotion. ”
Entering the exhibition hall, the audience will first listen in the dark to the overture of the exhibition, "Raw Materials", which brings together 22 sound fragments of the work and resonates with the audience through the immersive space design. Next, viewers will have the opportunity to "visit" Nauman's studio, observing nighttime scenes from his Studio in New Mexico through large footage. As he puts it: "If I'm an artist and I'm in a studio, then whatever I do in the studio, it has to be art." "This conceptual shift has important implications in art history.
The most suitable for audiences to take photos and punch cards is Naumann's influential neon "logo", which is Naumann's attempt to use the visual language of advertising and consumerism to create art. Among them, "Survival and Destruction A Hundred Times" is the most complex, it brings together 100 capital English phrases, and when the neon lights gradually light up, the work becomes a "rolling poem", silently telling the artist's understanding of life and emotion.
The exhibition will be on view until June 12.