Art Make-Up

Bruce Nauman, Art Make-Up, 1967-1968, single-channel video, 16mm film on video, color, sound; 40:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company, 2008.21.3A-D, © 2015 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY
Bruce Nauman, Art Make-Up, 1967-1968, single-channel video, 16mm film on video, color, sound; 40:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company, 2008.21.3A-D, © 2015 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY

Artwork Details

Title
Art Make-Up
Artist
Date
1967-1968
Location
Not on view
Copyright
© 2015 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company
Mediums
Mediums Description
single-channel video, 16mm film on video, color, sound; 40:00 minutes
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Dress — accessory — makeup
  • Figure
Object Number
2008.21.3A-D

Artwork Description

Bruce Nauman is one of the most influential pioneers of film, video, and media art. Art Make-Up, Nauman's first "film environment," examines the physical exertion, anxieties, and transformations of art making. The artist sits in front of the camera and proceeds to paint his body in white, pink, green, and black makeup. The moving image is synchronized and projected on four screens intended to surround the viewer with the anxiety of the transformation.

Watch This!: Revelations in Media Art, 2015

Works by this artist (3 items)

Benjamin West, Mary Hopkinson, ca. 1764, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, George Buchanan Coale Collection, 1926.6.1
Mary Hopkinson
Artist
Dateca. 1764
oil on canvas
On view
Benjamin West, Self-Portrait, 1819, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Capitol, 1917.2.3
Self-Portrait
Date1819
oil on paperboard
Not on view
Benjamin West, Helen Brought to Paris, 1776, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1969.33
Helen Brought to Paris
Date1776
oil on canvas
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Oliver Tarbell Eddy, Self-Portrait, ca. 1850, oil on tin, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Ralph and Bobbi Terkowitz, 2019.6.3
Self-Portrait
Dateca. 1850
oil on tin
Not on view
Jacob Maentel, Portrait of Elizabeth Sweitzer Musser, ca. 1826, watercolor and pen and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Ralph and Bobbi Terkowitz, 2019.6.5
Portrait of Elizabeth Sweitzer Musser
Dateca. 1826
watercolor and pen and ink on paper
Not on view
Jacob Maentel, Portrait of Adam Musser, ca. 1822, watercolor and pen and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Ralph and Bobbi Terkowitz, 2019.6.9
Portrait of Adam Musser
Dateca. 1822
watercolor and pen and ink on paper
Not on view
Ammi Phillips, Portrait of Helen (Lena) Ten Broeck, 1834, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Ralph and Bobbi Terkowitz, 2019.6.10
Portrait of Helen (Lena) Ten Broeck
Date1834
oil on canvas
On view