“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s”

“A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960s” is a collection of work by the contemporary artist while he was in grad school in California. “The show covers from ‘64 to ‘69,” says Menil Collection assistant curator Miranda Lash. “It was a very prolific period. He moved from drawing to fiberglass to studio pieces to sculpture to sound work. It’s just really this freewheeling period of experimentation where he just wasn’t afraid to try anything.”

The exhibit’s title, “A Rose Has No Teeth,” comes from Nauman’s interest in wordplay and the construction of meaning. “Even if you can make a sentence that is grammatically correct, it doesn’t mean that it has useful information or meaning,” says Lash. Nauman’s first attempt at art for the outdoors, the series A Rose Has No Teeth is seen in three versions in the exhibit. One is a plaque made of polyester resin, one is made of lead and one is a drawing of a plaque with instructions that the finished work “be attached to a tree in the woods so that it will be grown over.” All three Teeth are on exhibit, along with more than 100 other Nauman works, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays. 1515 Sul Ross. For information, call 713-525-9400 or visit www.menil.org. Free.
Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Starts: Oct. 12. Continues through Jan. 13, 2007