Bruce Nauman

1941 Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States of America

1960–64 Studies Art and Mathematics and receives Bachelor of Science., University of Wisconsin, Madison

1966 Receives Masters of Arts at University of California, Davis, studying under William T Wiley and Robert Arneson; teaches at San Francisco Art Institute; first solo exhibition, Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles

1967 Moves to Mill Valley, California

1968 Solo exhibition, Performance corridor, at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York (develops participatory projects in which the viewer duplicates the physical experience of the artist – uses architecture, light, mirrors, and video monitors to structure the viewer’s experience); included in Dokumenta  4, Kassel, West Germany

1969 Moves to Pasadena, California; included in exhibitions Biennial exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Nine young artists: Theodoran awards, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City

1970 Teaches at University of California, Irvine; included in exhibitions, Between man and matter, Tokyo biennale, Japan; Air, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, travelling to Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and Fort Pavilion, Sydney, Australia

1971 Solo exhibition, Oversize prints, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1972 Travelling retrospective exhibition, Bruce Nauman: work from 1965–72, originating at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; included in Dokumenta  5, Kassel; Eighteenth national print exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, New York City

1973 Included in exhibition, American drawings 1963–1973, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; undertakes residency at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles

1975 Solo exhibition at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; included in travelling exhibitions, Drawing now, originating at Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Video art, originating at Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

1976 Included in exhibitions, The artist and the photograph, at Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Painting and sculpture in California: the modern era, at San Francisco Museum of Art, California

1978 Included in exhibitions, Made by sculptors, at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Venice biennale, Italy

1979 Moves to Pecos, New Mexico

1980 Included in Venice biennale

1981 Solo exhibition, at Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, The Netherlands; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, West Germany

1982 Retrospective exhibition at Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; included in Dokumenta  7, Kassel

1984 Included in exhibitions, Gemini G.E.L.: art and collaboration, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1985 Solo exhibition, at Museum of Modern Art, New York City; included in exhibitions, New York on paper 3, Museum of Modern Art, New York City; 1985 Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Transformations in sculpture, originating at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City

1986 Solo exhibition, at Kunsthalle, Basel, Switzerland; solo exhibition, at Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris; included in exhibitions, Lightworks: works of the art of using light as a medium, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra (formerly operated by the National Gallery of Australia)

1987 Solo exhibition, at Whitechapel Gallery, London, England; included in exhibition, Avant garde in the 80s, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California

1988 Solo exhibitions, Bruce Nauman: videos 1965–1986, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Bruce Nauman (collections), Musée National d’Art Modern, Paris, France

1989–90 Included in travelling exhibitions, First Impressions: Early prints by forty-six contemporary artists, originating at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; The readymade boomerang: certain relations in 20th century art, Biennale of Sydney, Australia

1991 Travelling exhibition, Bruce Nauman: prints and multiples, originating at Thea Westreich, New York; included in Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1992 Included in exhibition, Marking the decades: prints 1960–1990, Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Dokumenta  9, Kassel

1993 Awarded the Wolf Prize for sculpture; travelling retrospective exhibition, Bruce Nauman, organised by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; included in Biennale d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

1994 Awarded the Wexner Prize for sculpture

1996 Included in Biennale d’art contemporain, Lyon

1997 Travelling exhibition, Bruce Nauman (image/text 1966–1996), originating at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Biennial exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

1999 Receives Golden Lion award at the Venice biennale, Italy

2003 Publishes Please pay attention please: Bruce Nauman’s words: writings and interviews,(MIT Press: Cambridge 2003)

2004 Receives the Unilever Series commission for display in Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London

2005 Solo exhibitions: Bruce Nauman: mapping the studio, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; Pay attention: Bruce Nauman videos from the collection of Barbara Balkin Cottle and Robert Cottle, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona; included in exhibition, Open systems: rethinking art c.1970, Tate Modern, London, England

2006 Travelling retrospectives: Bruce Nauman: make me think me, originating at Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, England; Elusive signs: Bruce Nauman works with light, originating at Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, concluding at Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia; included in exhibition, I not I: Samuel Beckett, Philip Guston, Bruce Nauman, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland

2007 Travelling solo exhibition, A rose has no teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s, originating at University of California, Berkley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California; solo exhibition, Soft ground etchings and Infrared outtakes, Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl, New York

2008 Included in 16th Biennale of Sydney, Revolutions: forms that turn, Sydney, Australia; solo exhibition, Bruce Nauman: drawings for installations, Sperone Westwater, New York

2009 Represents United States at Venice Biennale with solo exhibition, Bruce Nauman: topological gardens and receives the Golden Lion award for Best National Participation; solo exhibitions: Bruce Nauman: dead shot Dan, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Bruce Nauman: drawings for neons, Craig F. Starr Gallery, New York; Bruce Nauman: one video and works on paper, Galleria Zabert, Torino, Italy

2010 Retrospective, Bruce Nauman: dream passage, Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany; included in exhibition, On line: drawing through the twentieth century, Museum of Modern Art, New York

2011 Retrospective, Bruce Nauman: the true artist, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany; solo exhibition, Bruce Nauman: combinations described (Chicago), Donald Young Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

2012 Solo exhibition, Bruce Nauman: inside the White Cube,White Cube, London, England

2013 Solo exhibitions: Bruce Nauman: mindfuck, Hauser & Wirth, London, England; Bruce Nauman: some illusions: videos and drawings, Sperone Westwater, New York. Bruce Nauman currently lives and works in Galisteo, New Mexico

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd., revised Kate Buckingham, 2006; revised Julia Greens, (MIT Press: Cambridge 2003). This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.