Erwin Wurm

Peep Show

February 5th –
March 6th, 2021
Gstaad
  • Erwin Wurm
    Avatar pre-departing,2020
    Bronze
    103 x 35 x 29 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Venetian Sausage,2015
    Murano glass
    86 x 28 x 34 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Untitled,2011-2021
    Bronze
    68 x 40 x 35 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Vater,2017
    Glass
    45.5 x 12 x 14 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Beanie,2021
    Polyester resin, knitted wool
    108 x 100 x 100 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Glock,2019
    Bronze, polished
    21 x 27 x 10 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Tall Bag G,2019
    Bronze
    180 x 50 x 45 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Stone,2021
    Bronze, stone
    39 x 40 x 33 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Bar,2020
    Metal, bronze, patina, table, alcohol bottle, glasses
    168 x 162 x 72 cm
  • Erwin Wurm
    Beanie,2019
    Polyester resin, knitted wool
    125 x 130 x 130 cm

Erwin Wurm (b. 1954 Bruck an der Mur/Styria, Austria; lives and works in Vienna and Limberg, Austria) came to prominence with his One Minute Sculptures, a project that he began in 1996/1997.

In these works, Wurm gives written or drawn instructions to participants that indicate actions or poses to perform with everyday objects such as chairs, buckets, fruit, or knit sweaters.

These sculptures are by nature ephemeral, and by incorporating photography and performance into the process Wurm challenges the formal qualities of the medium as well as the boundaries between performance and daily life as spectator and participant.

While in this series he explores the idea of the human body as sculpture, in some of his more recent work he anthropomorphizes everyday objects in unsettling ways, like contorting sausage-like forms into bronze sculptures in Abstract Sculptures, or distorting and bloating the volume and shape of a car in Fat Car.

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Wurm considers the physical act of gaining and losing weight a sculptural gesture, and often creates the illusion of bodily growth or shrinkage in his work.

While Wurm considers absurd an important tool in his work, 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.

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