Bruce Nauman (b. 1941)

Trust Me Only Big Studio

Details

Bruce Nauman (b. 1941)
Trust Me Only Big Studio
neon tubing with clear glass tubing suspension frames
42 x 42 x 8in. (106.7 x 106.7 x 20.3cm.)
Executed in 1984. This work is unique.

Provenance

Sperone Westwater, New York

Literature

N. Benezra, K. Halbreich, P. Schimmel and R. Storr, Bruce Nauman Catalogue Raisonné, Minneapolis 1994, p. 292, no. 328 (illustrated)

Exhibited

New York, Sperone Westwater, Seven Virtues and Seven Vices: White Anger, Red Danger, Yellow Peril, Black Death, October-November 1984
New York, Sperone Westwater, Group Show, February-March 1985
Venice, LA Louver, Group Show, 1986

Lot Essay

According to Nauman, the source for this cruciform, wall-mounted neon sign composed of the phrases TRUST ME ONLY (running horizontally) and BIG STUDIO 1984 (running vertically) was an idea for an unrealized edition of pocket knives, to be marked with this logo and commemorating the year 1984 (a reference to the novel of the same name by George Orwell). Nauman, who has made knives since his Boy Scout days, planned to write these phrases on the blade.

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