Erwin Wurm
dal 18/10/2010 al 29/1/2011
Segnalato da
18/10/2010
Erwin Wurm
Essl Museum Contemporary Art, Klosterneuburg
Private Wurm. In the works on show, Wurm takes an ironic and distanced look at changes in the perception of reality and identity triggered by the media. A full-size house exemplifies the distortion to which images are subject. The house is modeled on the artist's childhood home.Visitors will be able actually to enter the house and its individual rooms to feel the impact of its narrow confines. The dimensions of the furniture such as chairs, tables, plates and cutlery have been squeezed to the same extent as the house itself.
curated by Günther Oberhollenzer
With the solo exhibition PRIVATE WURM,
the Essl Museum presents very recent works
by the internationally renownend Austrian
artist Erwin Wurm.
In the works on show, Wurm takes an ironic
and distanced look at changes in the
perception of reality and identity triggered
by the media.
A full-size house (16m long, 7m high),
albeit compressed to a width of only about
one metre, exemplifies the distortion to
which images are subject. The house is
modeled on the artist’s childhood home.
Visitors will be able actually to enter the
house and its individual rooms to feel the impact of
its narrow confines. The dimensions of the furniture such as chairs, tables, plates and
cutlery have been squeezed to the same extent as the house itself. The discrepancy
between reality as it was and as we remember it, between the body and the world
outside, becomes blatantly obvious.
This idea of distorted perception was also at the root of the over-size Viennese
policeman’s cap, which was specifically created for the exhibition and will be shown
together with other recent artwork. The visitors will have the opportunity to ‘take
shelter’ under the cap with its diameter of more than one metre.
Erwin Wurm’s creations demonstrate how much the world as shown by the media
lastingly changes our way of thinking, living and creating. Reality is continuously
adapted to the way it is presented in the media. Visions of the future, films, science
fiction and cartoons play an important role in the artist’s work. The narrow
constrictions of the house presented here contain references to the installations of
Bruce Naumans or the slapstick comedy of odd couples such as Stan Laurel and
Oliver Hardy. Through his objects, the artist gives the viewers an immediate
experience of reality as staged by the media.
About twenty years ago, the deconstruction of traditional elements of sculpture was
the starting point of a series of works that made Wurm’s reputation.
Apart from objects, installations, drawings, videos and photographs, his well-known “One
Minute Sculptures” complete the unique oeuvre of this artist.
SPECIALS
Publication including “Making Of”
The exhibition will be complemented by a publication with a preface by Karlheinz Essl, various text contributions
by Günther Oberhollenzer and Erwin Wurm and a documentation of the installation of the exhibition.
Art Education
The art education team offers guided tours and workshops during the exhibition. Please access the current
calendar of events at http://www.essl.museum / Kunstvermittlung.
Press and Public Relations Office:
Erwin Uhrmann (head), uhrmann@essl.museum, +43 (0) 2243/370 5060
Regina Holler-Strobl, holler-strobl@essl.museum, +43 (0) 2243/370 5062
Image: Erwin Wurm, Polizeikappe, 2010, styropor, epoxy resin, cloth
53 x 91 x 99 cm
© Studio Wurm, Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
Photo: Mischa Nawrata
Opening 19 Oct. 2010, 7.30 p.m.
Essl Museum - Contemporary Art
An der Donau-Au 1, A-3400 Vienna / Klosterneuburg
Opening Hours: Tue - Sun 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Wed 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Free Admission 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.