Bruce Nauman Exhibition 16th July – 6th September 1998

In 1998 the Hayward Gallery, London commissioned Ian Ritchie Architects to design the space for a retrospective of the American artist, Bruce Nauman.
In view of the wide range of medium used by the artist and the strength of his works, we opted to make minimal interventions, to play with the gallery space as it was originally designed, thereby breaking away from the usual compartmentalisation and maze-effect of gallery display, or highly manicured display. The result was a unified, overwhelming open-plan exhibition.
Nauman’s works were positioned sufficiently far apart to avoid any interference between them, yet close enough together to subliminally draw the visitor on further and through constantly altering emotions.
Our minimalist approach also led to an economy of means for maximum effect, e.g. through spatial and emotional play: a bench -seat framing a piece, a wall on which a neon piece is hung creating the inner space of another piece, creating a volume dialoguing with projected images in a wider space.
This exhibition was voted among the top ten exhibitions in London of the 1990s.