Bruce Nauman: Prints, Books, and Ephemera

David Zwirner is pleased to present a selection of prints, books, and ephemera by Bruce Nauman that illustrates his ceaseless innovation. Encompassing three decades of the artist’s multifaceted practice, from 1969 to 1995, the works include rare publications, video, postcards, and portfolios, as well as lithographs, drypoints, and etchings. For Nauman, printmaking has long been an important mode for exploring language and material as it offers, according to the artist, a “directness,” while also “allowing the technique to be a buffer between me and the image” and providing “a sense of ritualizing the image.” A major survey, Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts, was on view at The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 in New York.

This selection encompasses collaborations with renowned printers and publishers including Gemini G.E.L., Cirrus Editions, Arber & Son Editions, and Brooke Alexander Editions; contributions to seminal artists’ books and portfolios such as Phil Weidman’s 1969 Slant Step Book and William Copley’s S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop) No. 5 (1968); and totems of Nauman’s career, including the seminal Pay Attention (1973) and irreverent Clown Taking a Shit (1988), which references his iconic multi-channel video installation Clown Torture (1987) where the artist explores the dynamics of humor and horror through the figure of the clown.

The Viewing Room also highlights the spirit of experimentation that is central to Nauman’s engagement with artistic identity and routine. “When I think about doing art, I think about it as an investigation of the function of an artist, or the function of myself as an artist,” Nauman explained in 1989. “Each piece of work is a result of what I do in the studio every day, year by year.”

Image: Bruce Nauman, TV Clown (detail), 1988

© 2018 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Christopher Cordes, “Talking with Bruce Nauman: An Interview” (1989), in Bruce Nauman: Prints 1970–89. A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: Castelli Graphics, 1989), p. 22. Ibid., p. 34.

Inquire about works from this Past Viewing Room

Bruce Nauman

Normal Desires, 1973

Lithograph on Copperplate Deluxe paper

Image: 21 3/4 x 30 inches (55.2 x 76.2 cm) Sheet: 24 3/8 x 35 3/8 inches (61.9 x 89.9 cm) Framed: 26 1/2 x 37 5/8 inches (67.3 x 95.6 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Doe Fawn, 1973

Lithograph on Roll Rives paper

Image: 30 × 43 inches (76.2 × 109.2 cm) Sheet: 32 × 44 7/8 inches (81.3 × 114 cm) Framed: 34 × 46 7/8 × 2 inches (86.4 × 119.1 × 5.1 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Violent Incident (Man/Woman Segment), 1986

Videotape, color, sound, 30 min.

“I think the point where language starts to break down as a useful tool for communication is the same edge where poetry or art occurs.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Christopher Cordes, “Talking with Bruce Nauman: An Interview,” (1989), in Bruce Nauman: Prints 1970–89. A Catalogue Raisonné

Bruce Nauman

Human Companionship, Human Drain, 1981

Lithograph on Rives BFK white paper

Image: 30 x 22 inches (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Sheet: 30 x 22 inches (76.2 x 55.9 cm) Framed: 40 x 31 5/8 inches (101.6 x 80.3 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Malice, 1980

Lithograph on Rives BFK paper

Image: 24 1/4 × 38 inches (61.6 × 96.5 cm) Sheet: 29 3/4 × 41 inches (75.6 × 104.1 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Studies for Holograms (d), 1970

Screenprint on 100 lb. Kromekote paper

26 × 26 inches (66 × 66 cm)

“The idea of making faces had to do with thinking about the body as something you can manipulate.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Christopher Cordes, “Talking with Bruce Nauman: An Interview,” (1989), in Bruce Nauman: Prints 1970–89. A Catalogue Raisonné

Bruce Nauman

Double Face, 1981

Lithograph on Arches Cover paper

Image: 24 × 34 inches (61 × 86.4 cm) Sheet: 26 × 36 inches (66 × 91.4 cm) Framed: 27 3/4 × 37 3/4 inches (70.5 × 95.9 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Pearl Masque, 1981

Lithograph on Arches 88 paper

28 1/2 × 37 1/2 inches (72.4 × 95.3 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Raw-War, 1971

Lithograph on white Arches paper

22 1/4 × 28 1/4 inches (56.5 × 71.8 cm)

“I do a lot of word transpositions in everyday conversation. Sometimes, when they have strong poetic associations and I really feel them, I stick with them and get used to them.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Christopher Cordes, “Talking with Bruce Nauman: An Interview,” (1989), in Bruce Nauman: Prints 1970–89. A Catalogue Raisonné

“Most of the word pieces were produced during a period when I was doing a lot of writing; the print medium seemed the most reasonable way to get them out.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Christopher Cordes, “Talking with Bruce Nauman: An Interview,” (1989), in Bruce Nauman: Prints 1970–89. A Catalogue Raisonné

Bruce Nauman

Pay Attention, 1973

Lithograph on Arjomari paper

Sheet: 38 1/4 × 28 1/4 inches (97.2 × 71.8 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled (Hands), 1990-1991

Drypoint with aquatint on paper

16 3/4 × 19 1/2 inches (42.5 × 49.5 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1990-1991

Drypoint with aquatint on paper

16 3/4 × 19 1/2 inches (42.5 × 49.5 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Large Carousel, 1988

Drypoint on Somerset Satin paper

34 × 40 inches (86.4 × 101.6 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Learned Helplessness in Rats, 1988

Hard-ground etching on Somerset Satin paper

15 1/2 × 18 inches (39.4 × 45.7 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1989-1990

Hard-ground etching on paper

Image: 11 × 13 7/8 inches (27.9 × 35.2 cm) Sheet: 16 5/8 × 19 1/4 inches (42.2 × 48.9 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1989-1990

Hard-ground etching on paper

Image: 11 × 14 inches (27.9 × 35.6 cm) Sheet: 16 5/8 × 19 1/4 inches (42.2 × 48.9 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1989-1990

Hard-ground etching on paper

Image: 11 × 13 7/8 inches (27.9 × 35.2 cm) Sheet: 16 5/8 × 19 1/4 inches (42.2 × 48.9 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1989-1990

Hard-ground etching on paper

Image: 14 × 11 inches (35.6 × 27.9 cm) Sheet: 19 1/4 × 16 5/8 inches (48.9 × 42.2 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1989-1990

Hard-ground etching on paper

Image: 10 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches (27.3 x 34.9 cm) Sheet: 16 5/8 x 19 1/4 inches (42.2 x 48.9 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Untitled, 1989-1990

Drypoint on paper

Image: 10 3/4 × 13 3/4 inches (27.3 × 34.9 cm) Sheet: 16 5/8 × 19 1/4 inches (42.2 × 48.9 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Clown Taking a Shit, 1988

Lithograph on Transpagra paper

Image: 38 × 27 3/4 inches (96.5 × 70.5 cm) Sheet: 43 7/8 × 29 7/8 inches (111.4 × 75.9 cm) Framed: 44 1/4 × 32 1/4 inches (112.4 × 81.9 cm)

“When I work on drawings outside of printmaking they are not so much about themselves—their point is to explain how a piece functions. When the explanation is clear, then I am finished making the drawing. But in the prints, I confront what the drawing is supposed to be more often. It is a more complex investigation somehow, and is probably as close as I get anymore to thinking about how paintings should be made.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Christopher Cordes, “Talking with Bruce Nauman: An Interview,” (1989), in Bruce Nauman: Prints 1970–89. A Catalogue Raisonné

“Art ought to have a moral value, a moral stance, a position.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Joan Simon, “Breaking the Silence: An Interview with Bruce Nauman” (1988), in Please Pay Attention Please: Bruce Nauman’s Words

Bruce Nauman

TV Clown, 1988

Lithograph on Transpagra paper

Image: 27 1/2 × 41 1/2 inches (69.9 × 105.4 cm) Sheet: 29 3/4 × 43 7/8 inches (75.6 × 111.4 cm) Framed: 32 1/2 × 46 1/4 inches (82.6 × 117.5 cm)

Bruce Nauman

ON ON ON ON / NO NO NO, 1995

Lenticular photo-postcard

3 1/2 × 5 1/2 inches (8.8 × 14 cm)

William Copley

S.M.S. (Shit Must Stop), No. 5 (October 1968)

Periodical with non-standard binding, offset-printed, loose leaves, slipcase, black-and-white and color

11 × 7 1/8 inches (28 × 18 cm)

Phil Weidman

Slant Step Book, 1969

Artist's book with pictorial wrappers, offset-printed, glue bound, black-and-white, 36 pp.

8 7/8 × 5 7/8 inches (22.5 × 15.1 cm)

Interfunktionen

No. 7, September 1971

Periodical with pictorial wrappers, offset-printed, glue bound, black-and-white, 95 pp.

11 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches (29.5 × 21 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Flayed Earth/Flayed Self (Skin/Sink), 1974

Artist's book, wrappers, offset-printed, staple bound, black-and-white, 32 pp.

6 7/8 × 4 7/8 inches (17.5 × 12.6 cm)

Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman: Leo Castelli Gallery, January 27-February 17, 1968

Paperback cover, staple bound, offset printed, black-and white booklet. 12 pp.

11 × 8 1/2 inches (27.9 × 21.6 cm)

“Art is a means to acquiring an investigative activity.”

—Bruce Nauman, as quoted in Ian Wallace and Russell Keziere, “Bruce Nauman Interviewed” (1979), in Please Pay Attention Please: Bruce Nauman’s Words

Bruce Nauman

L A Air, 1970

Artist's book with wrappers, offset-printed, staple bound, color, 12 pp.

12 × 12 inches (30.5 × 30.5 cm)

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