Bruce Nauman “Contrapposto Studies, i through vii”

Sperone Westwater

[Image: Bruce Nauman "Contrapposto Studies, i through vii" (2015/2016)]

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Sperone Westwater presents a new video installation by Bruce Nauman, widely regarded to be among the most important living artists, and a catalyst for the recent shift in artistic practice toward conceptual and performative uses of language and the body. Since the 1960s, Nauman has pioneered durational practices and time-based media, as well as having established a conceptually rigorous approach across sculpture, sound, drawing, photography, film, and video that continues to inspire a younger generation of artists working in these forms today. This solo show is the twelfth of Nauman’s work at the gallery since 1976.

Contrapposto Studies, i through vii, consists of seven large-scale, high definition video projections with sound. In each projection, Nauman walks in contrapposto, seen either frontally or in profile. Across the projections, his image is repeated and rendered in both positive and negative, while walking backwards and forwards,respectively. At times, the repeated images of the artist’s body become fragmented and stacked in two distinct layers. Each projection is accompanied by the sound of the artist’s movements, as well as ancillary studio sounds resulting from the filming and editing process. Nauman’s Contrapposto Studies take as a point of departure the artist’s formative work Walk with Contrapposto, 1968, in which Nauman executes an exaggerated walk along a tall, narrow corridor. Here, Nauman digitally transforms a singular gesture into an increasingly complex visual and auditory experience.

Contrapposto Studies, i through vii, is on view at Sperone Westwater from 10 September - 29 October 2016, opening on Saturday, 10 September. The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present a complementary work, Contrapposto Studies, I through VII, from 18 September 2016 - 8 January 2017.