Just opened this week at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is Dead Shot Dan, an exhibition exploring the element of humor in the work of Bruce Nauman. The title takes its cue from a character in a Buster Keaton movie, with the actor/filmmaker and artist sharing a comic take on the tragic. Both “tell tales of violent acts tinged with Sisyphean traps, bodily contortions, linguistic slip-ups, and misunderstandings. Like Keaton, Nauman’s sense of humor comes with a sour after-taste… [that] makes us laugh and cringe.”
Dead Shot Dan runs through April 19 and includes a selection of neons, drawings, prints, photographs, and videos by the venerable Season 1 artist, who will also represent the U.S. in the 2009 Venice Biennale.
Image credit: Bruce Nauman, Double Poke in the Eye II, 1985. Collection of Lois and Steve Eisen. © 2008 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.