Erwin Wurm

Erwin Wurm (b. 1954 in Bruck an der Mur, Austria; lives and works in Vienna and NYC) is arguably the best known postwar Austrian artist. His work often involves recontextualised readymade objects and highly distorted recreations of familiar forms. Over the course of his career, Wurm has radically expanded conceptions of sculpture, space and the human form. His sculptures straddle abstraction and representation, presenting familiar objects in a surprising, humorous and inventive way that prompts viewers to consider them in a new light. He often explores mundane, everyday decisions as well as existential questions in his works, focusing on the objects that help us cope with daily life and through which we ultimately define ourselves. While his practice may at first seem jovial, beneath its comedy is a critique of the darker aspects of the post-war society the artist grew up in. He is credited as the inspiration for the 2003 music video, “Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

While Wurm considers humor an important tool, there is always 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. Wurm emphasizes this dichotomy by working within the liminal space between high and low and merging genres to explore what he views as a farcical and invented reality.

Selected Permanent Collections include: Centre Pompidou, Paris; France Contemporary Art Museum, Lyon; France Kunstmuseum, St Gallen; Switzerland Museum Ludwig; Aachen/Cologne, Germany; Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Australia; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA Tate Modern London, UK; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; USA Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, USA.

Represented by Lehmann Maupin Gallery, London.