Background

Erwin Wurm was born on July 27, 1954, in Bruck an der Mur, Styria, Austria. He is a son of a policeman and housewife.

Education

Erwin Wurm was raised in a traditional family. The restrictions he knew as a child disturbed him to show himself to the full extent. The restrained potential was later fully realized in some of his works.

After school, Wurm entered the University of Graz where he received a diploma in art history in 1977. He pursued an education at Mozarteum University Salzburg where he studied fine art. In 1982, he graduated from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna with a diploma in design.

Career

Erwin Wurm received the first acclaim at the end of the 1980s when he presented to the public his One Minute Sculptures projects. There are so-called interactive sculptures inviting the viewers to perform something by themselves, to operate with some everyday objects in a certain way or to interact with other visitors.

The success was followed by Fat series that, by oversizing different objects, from cars to houses, symbolized human’s urge to prove the status through the size of the things that they possess.

Another piece of art elaborated by Wurm, Narrow House, hearken back to his childhood. The artist produced a small copy of his parents' house placed heels over head to recapture the atmosphere of restraint of the post-war period in Austria.

Erwin Wurm has exhibited nationally and internationally, including the art spaces in France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Brazil, the United States, China, Thailand, and Hungary. It was presented at the 54th Venice Biennale where the artist came back six years later.

Nowadays, Erwin Wurm shares his time between two Austrian cities, Vienna and Limberg.

Achievements

• 

  Erwin Wurm's way of criticizing the mass consumption through his humorous and ridiculous mixed media works is unmistakable and widely recognized for its originality.
  
  Wurm has had about one thousand exhibitions in total during his career. His artworks are acquired by a great number of international public and private collections, including the Albertina, Centre Pompidou, Gemeentemuseum, the Netherlands, Kunsthaus Zürich, Middelheimmuseum, Belgium, New York City's Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, and Tate Modern among others.
  
  The artist is a recipient of the Otto Mauer Prize and the Grand Austrian State Prize.
  
  Wurm's art inspired Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 2003 music video Can't Stop.
  
  In 2014, Fat Car by Erwin Wurm was purchased for $185,000 at Christie's in New York City.

Works

More photos

• artwork

  • Herr Krause kommt nach Hause nach der Sause

  • Herr Krause kommt nach Hause nach der Sause

  • The Artist who Swallowed the World

• sculpture

  • One Minute Forever (hands/fruits)

  • One Minute Forever (chair)

  • Director (Herrentasche)

  • Peace Cautious (Dissolution)

  • Urinal

  • Selfportrait with Eyes

  • Noser (Dissolution)

  • Flat Iron

  • Little Big House

  • Fat House Moller / Adolf Loos

  • Gigant Klein, ich Deal

  • Sitting

  • Kiss

  • Hand

  • Selbstportrait als Gurken

  • Selbstportrait als Gurken

  • Discipline of Subjectivity

  • Ear Head

  • Untitled

  • Hearing Aid

  • Toilet

Views

Quotations: "I am interested in the everyday life. All the materials that surrounded me could be useful, as well as the objects, topics involved in contemporary society. My work speaks about the whole entity of a human being: the physical, the spiritual, the psychological and the political."

"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."

"[For me] humor is primarily a method for getting people's attention – it should ultimately prompt people to look at things more carefully."

Connections

Erwin Wurm is married to a graphic artist from France, Elise Moguin. They have a daughter named Estee.

Wife:

Elise Moguin

Erwin Wurm with Elise Moguin at the opening of Thaddaeus Ropac's new gallery on October 13, 2012 in Pantin, France. Photo by Bertrand Rindoff.

Daughter:

Estee Wurm

References

• Erwin Wurm Official Website