Hong Kong Bruce Nauman retrospective traces the American multimedia artist’s work over 6 decades – and it’s no easy show
- Tai Kwun Contemporary’s Bruce Nauman retrospective features 35 pieces from the provocative American artist, including word and neon art, sculptures and videos
- The works, which inspire reflection on everything from on animal cruelty to youth, are sometimes unsettling, but the curator says ‘now is the time’ to show them
The latest exhibition at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun Contemporary is an ambitious retrospective of six decades of works by American multimedia artist Bruce Nauman.
Nauman has been challenging the art world with diverse conceptual works since he started out, and this exhibition shows that his early art has not lost its power to unsettle and provoke viewers.
Often referred to as an “artists’ artist”, Nauman does not strive to produce art that is easy to look at.
One of his most cited quotes underlines this: “Sunsets, flowers, landscapes – these kind of things don’t move me to do anything. I just want to leave them alone. My work comes out of being frustrated about the human condition, and how people refuse to understand each other, and how people can be cruel to each other.”
