Erwin Wurm (born 1954)

Born in 1954 in Bruck and der Mur in Austria, Wurm lives in Vienna and New York. He creates sculptures, drawings, video art, installations and photographs. Since the late 1980s he has developed an ongoing series of "One Minute Sculptures," in which he poses himself or his models in unexpected, often absurd, whimsical or even dangerous relationships with everyday objects, prompting the viewer to question the very definition of sculpture. He seeks to use the "shortest path" in creating a sculpture—a clear and fast, sometimes humorous, form of expression. As the sculptures are fleeting and meant to be spontaneous and temporary, the images are only captured in photos or on film.

Everyday objects such as bicycles, brooms, vegetables, balls and chairs inspire his work and about the use of humor in his work, Wurm said in an interview: "If you approach things with a sense of humor, people immediately assume you're not to be taken seriously. But I think truths about society and human existence can be approached in different ways. You don't always have to be deadly serious. Sarcasm and humor can help you see things in a lighter vein." (Video interview on Submarine Channel).

His 'fat car' sculptures are puffy, life-size sculptures made of polyurethane foam and styrofoam covered with lacquer.

Selected Exhibitions:
2007 Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (solo)
2007 Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (solo)
2007 Musée d'Art Contemporain Lyon, Lyon, France (solo)
2007 Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden (solo)
2007 Erwin Wurm, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal (solo) 2007 Affinities- Deutsche Guggenheim, 1997-2007, Guggenheim in Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2007 All about laughter: role of humors in contemporary art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2007 I am future melancholic, Tate Modern, London, UK
2007 Il était une fois, l'École d'Arts Plastiques de Vitrolles, Vitrolles, France
2007 Salon de la Kakanie, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia
2007 Hamlet, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (solo)

2006 All the Best. The Deutsche Bank Collection and Zaha Hadid, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2006 Le mouvement des images, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
2006 Simultan, zwei Sammlungen österreichischer Fotographie, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
2006 Display of UBS Collection, Tate Modern, London, UK
2006 Art and Play, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
2006 Adorno was wrong with his ideas about art, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria (solo)
2006 Disziplin der Subjektivität, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria (solo)
2006 Keep a cool head, MUMOK Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria (solo)
2006 The artist who swallowed the world, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany (solo)
2006 Erwin Wurm. New Sculpture, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK (solo)
2006 The Idiot, Sala de Exposiciones Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain (solo) 2006 I love my time, I don't like my time: Recent works by Erwin Wurm, Rose Museum at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA / Frye Art Museum, Seattle, USA (solo)
2006 SECCA, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, USA (solo)
2006 Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (solo)
2006 CAPC Musée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, France (solo)

2005 Erwin Wurm, MACRO Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma, Italy (solo) 2005 Glue your brain, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (solo)
2005 Erwin Wurm, Peggy Guggenheim Collection,Venice, Italy (solo)
2005 Rundlederwelten, Gropiusbau, Berlin, Germany
2005 In the Line of Flight, China Millenium Art Museum, Bejing, China
2005 Erwin Wurm, Museo do Chiado, Lisbon, Portugal (solo)
2005 Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (solo)
2005 I love my time, I don't like my time: Recent works by Erwin Wurm, Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, USA (solo)
2005 Biennale d'Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France (curators: Jérome Sans, Nicolas Bourriaud)
2005 Snow white and the seven dwarfs, Fundación Marcelino Botín, Santander (curator: Udo Kittelmann)
2005 Spielräume, Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum - Zentrum Internationaler Skulptur, Duisburg, Germany
2005 Situation Comedy: Humor in recent art, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii/ Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago/ Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
2005 Sweet Temptations, Kunstverein St. Gallen Kunstmuseum, Switzerland
2005 Marking Time, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, The Getty Center, Los Angeles, USA
2005 Scultura leggera Light Sculpture, 503 Mulino, Vicenza
2005 Munch revisited, Museum am Ostwall, Ausstellungshalle der Stadt Dortmund, Germany
2005 Polaroid als Geste, Museum für Photographie, Braunschweig, Germany
2004 Seville International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Seville (curator: Harald Szeemann)

2004 I love my time, I don't like my time, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA (solo)
2004 European Dream, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico (curator: Pamela Echeverria) (solo)
2004 TRAC Tecnologie e Ricerca Artistica Contemporanea, Palazzo Fichera, Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Catania, Italy (solo)
2004 International Biennial Foundation of Contemporary Art of Seville, Sevilla, Spain
2004 Arti & Architettura, 1900-2000, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy
2004 Skulptur. Prekärer Realismus zwischen Melancholie und Komik, Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria
2004 Ich will, dass Du mir glaubst!, 9. Triennale Kleinplastik Fellbach, Fellbach, Germany
2004 Orozco - Wentworth - Wurm, FotoGrafia - International Rome Festival, The Andersen Museum, Rome, Italy
2004 Soziale Kreaturen - wie Körper Kunst wird, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
2004 Global World - Private Universe, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
2004 Von Angesicht zu Angesicht - Das Antlitz des Menschen in der Kunst, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
2004 Porträts. Picasso, Bacon, Warhol …, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria
2004 Vision einer Sammlung, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
2004 Farbige Plastik, Museum der Moderne Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria
2004 Le proche et le lointain, Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Centre d'art contemporain, Bignan, France
2004 LASTWINTERSPRINGNEVERCAME, Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul, Turkey
2004 Paisaje después de la tormenta [Landscape after the storm], T20 Gallery, Murcia, Spain
2004 Virtual Frame, Kunsthalle Wien project space Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
2004 4ème Biennale de la Photographie et des Arts visuels, Centre Culturel "Les Chiroux", Liège, Belqium
2004 Brooklyn Euphoria Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, USA
2004 Grotesque, burlesque et parody, Abbaye Saint-André, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Meymac, France

2003 European Dream, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Col San Angel, Mexico City / Casa ITESO-Clavigero, Guadalajara, Mexico (curator: Pamela Echeverria) (solo)
2003 Erwin Wurm - One Minute Sculptures/Orifice, Melbourne International Festival, ACCA Australian centre for Contemporary Art / Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne, Australia (solo)
2003 Erwin Wurm videos, RISD - Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA (solo)
2003 One Minute Sculptures, Erwin Wurm, Mairies des 13e et 14e arrondissements, FRAC-PACA (Fonds régional d'art contemporain Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur), Marseille, France (solo)
2003 ZKM , Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (solo)
2002 Fat Survival - Handlungsformen der Skulptur, Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria (solo)

2002 Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France (solo)
2002 Erwin Wurm, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (solo)
2002 Sculptures with embarrassment, Studio K, Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland (solo)
2002 Erwin Wurm Videoarbeiten 1989-2002, Akademie der bildenden Künste, Budapest, Hungary (solo)

2001 Performance Drawings, Drawing Centre, New York, USA (solo)
2001 Sleeping for two months, Centre pour l´Image Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland (solo)
2001 Videos 1991 - 2001, Miro Foundation, Barcelona, Spain (solo)
2001 Fat car, MAMCO Museé d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland (solo)

2000 Feelings, L´Ecole des Beaux-arts, Rouen, France (solo)
1999 Project wall, Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA (solo)
1998 Institute of Visual Arts, UW, Milwaukee, USA (solo)
1997 Me, me fat watching TV, Galleria The Box, Turin, Italy (solo)
1982 Neue Skulptur, Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria
1982 Triumph Skulptur, Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
1981 Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria (solo)


Selected Literature:
2005 Flash Art, January-February 2005, Vol. XXXVIII, No.240, Mailand, Italy, p. 117
2004 Verhagen, Eric. "L'échec sculptural de Erwin Wurm." Art Press (Paris, France), Number 307, December, pp. 18-23, cover.
2004 Marsola, Helga. "Erwin Wurm." Flash Art (Milan, August/September), p. 128.
2004 Marsola, Helga. "Erwin Wurm," EXIBART on paper (Florence, June/July).
2004 Contemporary (London), no. 60, p. 74.
2004 Olivares, Rosa. "Este no es un texto de un minuto/This is not a one minute text." EXIT (Madrid), no. 13, pp. 72-93.
2004 Olivares, Rosa. "Teoría, teóricos, teorética, teorizante . . . teomanía." EXITBOOK (Madrid), no. 3, pp. 4-5.
2004 Jarque, Vicente. "Sencillo y hondo." El País (Madrid), February 14, p. 17.
2004 Carrasco, Alex. "Erwin Wurm, No lo llames burla." NEO2 (Madrid), no. 33 (February/March), pp.57-58.
2003 Cash, Stefanie: Stand-Up Artist in: Art in America, December, New York, USA, pp.84-87, cover.
2003 Gavulová, Lucia: Kto je Erwin Wurm? in: VLNA, no. 16, Bratislava, Slovakia, pp.4-11.
2003 Fanchette, Frédérique: Simplement incorrect in: Libération, November 14, France, pp.38-39.
2003 Vozmediano, Elena: Wurm y la escultura efimera in: El Cultural, 18.9.2003, p. 29.
2003 Kissler, Alexander: Das Orakel der Steiermark in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Nr. 152, 5./6. July, p. 17.
2003 Schlüter, Ralf: Kopf in den Eimer in: ART, Hamburg, Deutschland, Nr. 6, June, p. 135.
2003 Kröner, Magdalena, Körper auf den Punkt gebracht in: Die Tageszeitung, Berlin, Germany, March 27, p. 16.
2003 Reininghaus, Alexandra: Eine Skulptur für alle Fälle in: ART, Hamburg, Germany, Nr. 4, April, p.18 - 25.
2003 Adbusters, Blaine, WA, USA, Jan/Feb Vol 11 No.1, pp. 29 & 34.
2003 Erwin Wurm in: Time Out, May 1-7, No. 11, p. 100.

Sources include:
wikipedia.org.

Press Release, New York, February 23, 2017—Lehmann Maupin is pleased to announce Ethics demonstrated in geometrical order, an exhibition of new One Minute Sculptures by Erwin Wurm. This year marks the 20th anniversary of these audience-activated sculptures, which will also be the focus of Wurm’s installation for the Austrian pavilion in the 57th Venice Biennial. Wurm’s One Minute Sculptures have influenced a generation of artists by redefining what a sculpture is and how the public engages with the medium. There will be a reception for the artist on Thursday, March 30 at 536 West 22nd Street from 6-8 PM.

The basic premise of a "One Minute Sculpture" remains uniform. For each work, using a drawing or specific text, Wurm directs participants to pose with an object, which have ranged from cleaning products and sneakers to furniture and fruit. The viewer enacts the proposed sculpture on a low plinth, manipulating their body and the predetermined prop in a pose held for a short time. Wurm reiterates that the success of these ephemeral pieces is determined by the exactness with which the directions are executed, stating, “ For the One Minute Sculptures featured in this exhibition, Sculptures only come into existence if the public follows precisely the instructions of the artist and free will has a low priority."

For the "One Minute Sculptures" featured in this exhibition, Wurm employs mid-century modern furniture as props. Participants will navigate these iconic 20th-century furnishing designs, often to unusual effect. By asking for the audience’s participation in a way that could make them feel uncomfortable, "One Minute Sculptures" offer a moment of visceral introspection as a means of provoking an examination of one’s own insecurities, thus turning them into subversive “thinking sculptures.” Much of Wurm’s work, though disturbing, offers an underlying social critique of contemporary culture, particularly in response to the capitalist influences and resulting societal pressures that the artist sees as contrary to our internal ideals.

The necessity for explicit mimicry of Wurm’s directives is reflected in the artist’s title choice, Ethics demonstrated in geometrical order, evoking the 17th-century Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza. Considered a pioneer of the Enlightenment era, Spinoza’s magnum opus, Ethics (1677), premised the uncertainty of free will. Wurm suggests contemporary scientific manifestations of Spinoza’s thoughts could be applied to the common theory among neuroscientists that our thoughts, judgments, and subsequent actions are strongly influenced by predeterminations and conditioning.

Throughout the Renaissance, an ongoing debate about the specific virtues of sculpture, painting, and poetry aligned sculpture with the physical entity it summons into being, a perception that dates back to Ovid’s Metamorphoses (8 AD). "One Minute Sculptures" reconsider this early interpretation of sculpture as a stand-in for the human form by using an actual human body as a replacement for its representation in durable form. By reducing the duration of the piece to a single minute, Wurm questions the timelessness often attributed to sculpture. The resulting works thus collapse the distinction between sculpture and other art mediums, such as painting and poetry, into a complete corporal, temporal, and narrative form.

In addition to the "One Minute Sculptures," Wurm will present five new sculptural works in cast bronze and mixed media, including Equitable (2016) and Flat Iron (2016), recreations of two iconic New York buildings that appear to be melting, and Bad Thoughts (2016), created by casting deformed bags of clay. These works are reminiscent of his Fat House (2003) and Fat Car (2001-present) series, where he gave swollen anatomical form to these structures. Together with "One Minute Sculptures", this latest body of work reasserts Wurm’s continued engagement with everyday objects and familiar forms as a catalyst for challenging and confounding perceptions of space, volume, form, and materiality.

About the artist?
Erwin Wurm (b. 1954 Bruck an der Mur/Styria, Austria; lives and works in Vienna) graduated from University Graz, Austria in 1977, and Gestaltungslehre University of Applied Art and Academy of Fine Art, Vienna in 1982. Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil (2017, forthcoming); Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany (2017, forthcoming); Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria (2017, forthcoming); Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (2016); Schindler House, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, West Hollywood, CA (2016); Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Thailand (2016); Indianapolis Museum of Art, IL(2015); Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, Poland (2013); Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain (2012); Dallas Contemporary, TX (2012); Bass Museum of Art, Miami (2011); Middelheimmuseum, Antwerpen, Belgium (2011); Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2010); and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2010).

Source:
"Erwin Wurm: Ethics Organized in Geometrical Order," Artsy, Web, Mar. 2017