Cooley Gallery | Reed College

DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE K-12 OUTREACH \| ABOUT \| CONTACT \| REED COLLEGE ART DEPARTMENT \| REED HOME

MUSEION BRUCE NAUMAN, BASEMENTS JANUARY 27–MARCH 9, 2012 While often recognized as foundational works of Conceptual Art, the studio films of American artist Bruce Nauman (b. 1941), created between 1967 and 1969 with both 16 mm film and emerging video technology, are rarely exhibited in consideration of the essential qualities of their nature as films. Typically, the works are exhibited in relationship to Nauman's sculptures and photographs, burdened with the responsibility of assuming a documentary voice, and positioned as evidence of Nauman's intellectual evolution. But how do we experience the films when we are able to fully encounter their presence as phenomenological entities, and to absorb them as such, embracing Nauman's investigations into language, philosophy, and the experience of his own body? To be with the films in keeping with the terms of their own making is an entirely different experience altogether. Nauman based these enigmatic films on an un-generalizable assortment of gestural exercises, drawn "scores," and live performances traceable to his graduate school activities at U.C. Davis (Nauman graduated in 1966). Some of the pieces clearly reference Nauman's playful use of language (such as Square Dance, 1967). Teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute at the time, and with minimal financial resources for the production of his work, Nauman focused his attention inward on the sparse landscape of the studio, and on his body, working with a borrowed 16 mm camera, and later with video, positioning the camera throughout the space in various fixed positions like a watchful and attentive "eye" ... but an eye powerful enough to invade the artist's body—surveilling, truncating, and inverting its forms. Throughout the video works in particular, the technology afforded Nauman more intimate and arduous bodily contact, and a pressing, voyeuristic immediacy. —Stephanie Snyder, Curator ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Warmest thanks first to Bruce Nauman and his studio; and to art historian Robert Slifkin and UC Berkeley curator Constance Lewallen, for their ground-breaking work on Nauman's art, and their support. Sincere gratitude to Cinema Project and CP Board member Michael McManus, for curating an exceptional film program in consort with the exhibition, and to Jeanine Jablonski for her support organizing the screening. Infinite thanks to the staff of the Cooley Gallery: Registrar Colleen Gotze; Education Outreach Coordinator Gregory MacNaughton; interns Elizabeth Bidart, Nick Irvin, Zoe Stal, and Kylie Gilchrist; and preparators Thom Ross and Mark Johnson. Many thanks to Reed College Dean of Faculty Pat McDougal and the Reed College Art Department. ABOVE Bruce Nauman, Wall-Floor Positions, 1968, 60 min., B&W, sound, 16 mm film transferred to digital video displayed on monitor. © 2012 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS). Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York, NY.		SPECIAL LECTURE & RECEPTION Robert Slifkin, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU BRUCE NAUMAN, GOING SOLO February 17th, 7 p.m., Reed College Chapel Followed by a reception at the Cooley Gallery Slifkin's lecture is being published in book form by the Cooley—the first in a new series of readers under the imprint Companion Editions, designed by Heather Watkins. Lecture attendees will receive a free copy of Slifkin's book. Art historian and Nauman scholar Robert Slifkin lectures on the complex personal and philosophical issues in Nauman's film and video work. Robert Slifkin is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where he teaches courses addressing various aspects of modern and contemporary art. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the Henry Luce Foundation, The Getty Research Institute, the Stanford Humanities Center, and the Henry Moore Foundation. His essays on the work of James Whistler, Bruce Nauman, Donald Judd, and the concept of Action Painting have appeared in such journals as October, American Art, Oxford Art Journal, and the Art Bulletin. His manuscript Out of Time: Philip Guston and the Refiguration of Postwar Art recently was awarded the Phillips Book Prize and is forthcoming from the University of California Press. SPECIAL CINEMA PROJECT PROGRAM Is It My Body: Conversions, Transgressions, and Representations February 28th and 29th, 7 p.m. 937 NW Glisan at NW 10th Ave. Free public admission sponsored by the Cooley Cinema Project curated this two-evening program of film and video in response to the Cooley's Bruce Nauman exhibition. Screening space for the event has been generously organized by Jeanine Jablonski and Fourteen30 Contemporary [@ 937]. Inspired by Bruce Nauman's use of his own body in his film and video performance pieces, such as Black Balls (1969), this program features experimental and avant-garde moving-image work that critically and creatively examines subjective representations of naked, sexualized, socially transgressive and decontextualized bodies and body parts. In many of the works that will be screened, the human/artist's body is used quite literally as a canvas for paint, make-up, or other materials (like fat), that through time complicate issues of identity, gender, and even the very malleability of the body through both performance and media technologies. Representational Painting by Eleanor Antin [1971, 38 min, b&w, silent, video] Conversions by Vito Acconci [1971, 65:30 min, three parts, b&w, silent, 8 mm film] Fat by Ursula Hodel [2003, 17:10 min, color, sound] Black Balls by Nauman [1969, 8 min, b&w, silent, 16 mm film on video] Hand Movie by Yvonne Rainer [1966, 5:00, b&w, silent, 8mm to video] Snap by Seoungho Cho [2006, 4:32 min, color and b&w, sound] Geography of the Body by Willard Maas [1973, 7 min, 16 mm, b/w, sound] Thighing (Blue) by Bruce Nauman [1967, 4:36 min, color, sound, 16 mm film on video] Leg by Denise Marika [2005, time variable, color, sound, video]

THE DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE 3203 SE WOODSTOCK BLVD. PORTLAND, OREGON 97202-8199 HOURS: NOON TO 5 P.M., TUESDAY – SUNDAY, FREE LOCATED ON THE MAIN FLOOR OF THE REED LIBRARY The mission of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery is to enhance the academic offerings of Reed College with a diverse range of scholarly exhibitions, lectures, and colloquia in its role as a teaching gallery. The gallery was established by a generous 1988 gift from Sue and Edward Cooley and John and Betty Gray "in support of the teaching of art history at Reed College, as part of an interdisciplinary educational experience that strengthens the art history component of Reed's distinctive humanities program." Exhibitions are coordinated in collaboration with Reed faculty members and courses, with attention to the needs and interests of the larger Portland and Northwest arts communities. A schedule of three to four exhibitions during the academic year brings to Reed and the Portland community work that would not otherwise be seen in the region.		Stephanie Snyder John and Anne Hauberg Curator and Director Office: 503.777.7251 Fax: 503.788.6691 Cell phone: 503.367.7004 snyders@reed.edu Colleen Gotze Registrar and Program Coordinator Office: 503.517.7851 Fax: 503.788.6691 gotzec@reed.edu Greg MacNaughton Education Outreach Coordinator Office: 503.929-3663 Fax: 503.788.6691 macnaugg@reed.edu Please email Registrar Colleen Gotze to be added to the Cooley Gallery announcement list and for general gallery questions.

DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE

K-12 OUTREACH | ABOUT | CONTACT | REED COLLEGE ART DEPARTMENT | REED HOME

MUSEION
BRUCE NAUMAN, BASEMENTS
JANUARY 27–MARCH 9, 2012

While often recognized as foundational works of Conceptual Art, the studio films of American artist Bruce Nauman (b. 1941), created between 1967 and 1969 with both 16 mm film and emerging video technology, are rarely exhibited in consideration of the essential qualities of their nature as films. Typically, the works are exhibited in relationship to Nauman's sculptures and photographs, burdened with the responsibility of assuming a documentary voice, and positioned as evidence of Nauman's intellectual evolution. But how do we experience the films when we are able to fully encounter their presence as phenomenological entities, and to absorb them as such, embracing Nauman's investigations into language, philosophy, and the experience of his own body? To be with the films in keeping with the terms of their own making is an entirely different experience altogether.

Nauman based these enigmatic films on an un-generalizable assortment of gestural exercises, drawn "scores," and live performances traceable
to his graduate school activities at U.C. Davis (Nauman graduated in 1966). Some of the pieces clearly reference Nauman's playful use of language (such as Square Dance, 1967). Teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute at the time, and with minimal financial resources for the production of his work, Nauman focused his attention inward
on the sparse landscape of the studio, and on his body, working with a borrowed 16 mm camera, and later with video, positioning the camera throughout the space in various fixed positions like a watchful and attentive "eye" ... but an eye
powerful enough to invade the artist's body—surveilling, truncating, and inverting its forms. Throughout the video works in particular, the technology afforded Nauman more intimate and arduous bodily contact, and a pressing, voyeuristic immediacy.

—Stephanie Snyder, Curator

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Warmest thanks first to Bruce Nauman and his studio; and to art historian Robert Slifkin and UC Berkeley curator Constance Lewallen, for their ground-breaking work on Nauman's art, and their support. Sincere gratitude to Cinema Project and CP Board member Michael McManus, for curating an exceptional film program in consort with the exhibition, and to Jeanine Jablonski for her support organizing the screening. Infinite thanks to the staff of the Cooley Gallery: Registrar Colleen Gotze; Education Outreach Coordinator Gregory MacNaughton; interns Elizabeth Bidart, Nick Irvin, Zoe Stal, and Kylie Gilchrist; and preparators Thom Ross and Mark Johnson. Many thanks to Reed College Dean of Faculty Pat McDougal and the Reed College Art Department.

ABOVE
Bruce Nauman, Wall-Floor Positions, 1968, 60 min., B&W,
sound, 16 mm film transferred to digital video displayed on
monitor. © 2012 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS). Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York, NY.

SPECIAL LECTURE & RECEPTION

Robert Slifkin, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU
BRUCE NAUMAN, GOING SOLO
February 17th, 7 p.m., Reed College Chapel
Followed by a reception at the Cooley Gallery

Slifkin's lecture is being published in book form by the Cooley—the first in a new series of readers under the imprint Companion Editions, designed by Heather Watkins. Lecture attendees will receive a free copy of Slifkin's book.

Art historian and Nauman scholar Robert Slifkin lectures on the complex personal and philosophical issues in Nauman's film and video work. Robert Slifkin is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where he teaches courses addressing various aspects of modern and contemporary art. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the Henry Luce Foundation, The Getty Research Institute, the Stanford Humanities Center, and the Henry Moore Foundation. His essays on the work of James Whistler, Bruce Nauman, Donald Judd, and the concept of Action Painting have appeared in such journals as October, American Art, Oxford Art Journal, and the Art Bulletin. His manuscript Out of Time: Philip Guston and the Refiguration of Postwar Art recently was awarded the Phillips Book Prize and is forthcoming from the University of California Press.

SPECIAL CINEMA PROJECT PROGRAM

Is It My Body: Conversions, Transgressions, and Representations
February 28th and 29th, 7 p.m.
937 NW Glisan at NW 10th Ave.
Free public admission sponsored by the Cooley

Cinema Project curated this two-evening program of film and video in response to the Cooley's Bruce Nauman exhibition. Screening space for the event has been generously organized by Jeanine Jablonski and Fourteen30 Contemporary [@ 937].

Inspired by Bruce Nauman's use of his own body in his film and video performance pieces, such as Black Balls (1969), this program features experimental and avant-garde moving-image work that critically and creatively examines subjective representations of naked, sexualized, socially transgressive and decontextualized bodies and body parts. In many of the works that will be screened, the human/artist's body is used quite literally as a canvas for paint, make-up, or other materials (like fat), that through time complicate issues of identity, gender, and even the very malleability of the body through both performance and media technologies.

Representational Painting by Eleanor Antin
[1971, 38 min, b&w, silent, video]

Conversions by Vito Acconci
[1971, 65:30 min, three parts, b&w, silent, 8 mm film]

Fat by Ursula Hodel
[2003, 17:10 min, color, sound]

Black Balls by Nauman
[1969, 8 min, b&w, silent, 16 mm film on video]

Hand Movie by Yvonne Rainer
[1966, 5:00, b&w, silent, 8mm to video]

Snap by Seoungho Cho
[2006, 4:32 min, color and b&w, sound]

Geography of the Body by Willard Maas
[1973, 7 min, 16 mm, b/w, sound]

Thighing (Blue) by Bruce Nauman
[1967, 4:36 min, color, sound, 16 mm film on video]

Leg by Denise Marika
[2005, time variable, color, sound, video]

THE DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL
ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE
3203 SE WOODSTOCK BLVD.
PORTLAND, OREGON 97202-8199

HOURS: NOON TO 5 P.M., TUESDAY – SUNDAY, FREE
LOCATED ON THE MAIN FLOOR OF THE REED LIBRARY

The mission of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery is to enhance the academic offerings of Reed College with a diverse range of scholarly exhibitions, lectures, and colloquia in its role as a teaching gallery.

The gallery was established by a generous 1988 gift from Sue and Edward Cooley and John and Betty Gray "in support of the teaching of art history at Reed College, as part of an interdisciplinary educational experience that strengthens the art history component of Reed's distinctive humanities program." Exhibitions are coordinated in collaboration with Reed faculty members and courses, with attention to the needs and interests of the larger Portland and Northwest arts communities. A schedule of three to four exhibitions during the academic year brings to Reed and the Portland community work that would not otherwise be seen in the region.

Stephanie Snyder
John and Anne Hauberg Curator and Director
Office: 503.777.7251
Fax: 503.788.6691
Cell phone: 503.367.7004
snyders@reed.edu

Colleen Gotze
Registrar and Program Coordinator
Office: 503.517.7851
Fax: 503.788.6691
gotzec@reed.edu

Greg MacNaughton
Education Outreach Coordinator
Office: 503.929-3663
Fax: 503.788.6691
macnaugg@reed.edu

Please email Registrar Colleen Gotze to be added to the Cooley Gallery announcement list and for general gallery questions.