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Born 6 December 1941
The tie, stated precisely: Bruce Nauman was born in Fort Wayne on 6 December 1941. His father was an engineer for General Electric, and the family moved often, so Fort Wayne is his birthplace rather than the scene of his upbringing — the same kind of tie this record carries for others born here and formed elsewhere, and it is the only tie claimed. From the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied mathematics and physics (1960–1964), he went to the University of California, Davis, taking his master's in art in 1966 under William T. Wiley and Robert Arneson, and taught at the San Francisco Art Institute.
Nauman became one of the most influential American artists of the last half-century. Working in sculpture, neon, video, photography, drawing, printmaking and performance, he helped move art past minimalism: the work tested the artist's own body, the viewer's body, and language itself — fiberglass and rubber casts of his own form, the 1967–68 self-portrait as a fountain, corridor installations, and neon word-pieces such as Human/Need/Desire (1983). He received the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Biennale in 1999 and represented the United States at Venice in 2009. He lives and works near Galisteo, New Mexico.
Sources:
- National Gallery of Australia, American Masters artist record — birth at Fort Wayne, 6 December 1941; the Wisconsin and Davis education.
- Columbia Encyclopedia (via FactMonster) — the Fort Wayne birth, the media, and the Venice honors.
- Wikipedia, "Bruce Nauman" — the General Electric father's transfers; the Galisteo residence.