The question that has pervaded my work for three decades now is the following: can I use the idea of the sculptural to process everyday life and our time and to gain a new perspective or a new possibility for interpretation?

Erwin Wurm was born in Bruck an der Mur (Austria) in 1954, he lives and works in Vienna and Limberg. Wurm graduated from University of Graz, Austria, in 1977, and University of Applied Art and Academy of Fine Art, Vienna in 1982.
With his practice Erwin Wurm brought a new concept of sculpture, in which the paradigm
of material, space and human was radically changed. Moving between abstraction and representation, Wurm’s works display familiar object in a surprising and overwhelming way so that the visitors have access to a new experience of art and daily life. With his series of One Minute Sculptures, or Clothes Sculptures as well as his drawings and photographs, Erwin Wurm challenge the formal qualities of different media: the static presence of the sculpture is twisted
in a participatory process where the viewer is call to action. The participatory aspect of its art is followed by a strong and sharp irony, used by Wurm to highlight social critique of contemporary culture while presenting to the visitor a moment of introspection.
Wurm achieves a transformation in the opposite direction when objects or forms in his
work assume distinctly human attributes. In his Stone Sculptures and Tall Bags, these anthropomorphised objects are perched on legs with characteristics or postures that evoke distinct personalities. He has also explored clothing as a sculptural theme – as a second
skin, protective shell, outline, or the filling out of volume – in large-scale installations where architectural features are dressed in knitted pullovers. The artist views the bodily process of gaining or losing weight in sculptural terms as the addition or subtraction of material, and often creates illusions of growth or shrinkage, as in his Fat Cars or Narrow House. In recent ceramic works, Wurm has abstracted and isolated body parts such as ears, noses, hands or nipples to create surreal and suggestive forms.

Born in 1954
Lives in Vienna and Limberg, Austria

2024

  • Surrogates, Thaddaeus Ropac, Ely House, London, UK
  • Fosun Foundation, Shanghai, China
  • Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria
  • Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, Italy
  • Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art Lisbon, Portugal
  • König Galerie, Berlin, Germany

2023

  • Away at Home, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Trap of the Truth, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, Wakefield, UK
  • Peter Marino Art Foundation, Southampton, New York, USA
  • Hot, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, USA
  • Thaddaeus Ropac, Ely House, London, UK
  • Dream, Lehmann Maupin, Seoul, korea
  • Gate, Palais Populaire, Berlin, Germany

2022

  • One Minute Forever, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Am I a House?, Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, Netherlands
  • Skins, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Marais, Paris, France
  • Lehmann Maupin, Palm Beach, Florida, USA
  • Subject, Kleines Haus der Kunst, König Galerie, Vienna, Austria
  • The Artist begging For Mercy, Bratislava City Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Avatars, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, Italy
  • Trans Formam, Galleria Poggiali, Florence, Italy
  • Sculpture is Everywhere, Suwon Museum of Art, Suwon, Korea

2021

  • Dignity, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
  • Dissolution, MAK (Museum für Angewandte Kunst), Geymüllerschlössel, Vienna, Austria
  • Museum Hartberg, Hartberg, Austria
  • Fat Bus Travelling Tour, Tianjin K11, Shenyang K11, China
  • One Minute Forever, Roca Umbert, Granollers, Spain
  • Via Veneto Contemporanea. Erwin Wurm, Municipality of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • Erwin Wurm, augmented reality exhibition, The Pavillion, Cantieri Culturali alla Zina, Palermo, Italy and Dornbirn, Austria

2020

  • Yes Biological, Lehmann Maupin, New York, USA
  • Erwin Wurm Photographs, MEP (Maison Européenne de la Photographie), Paris, France
  • Hello Seoul!, Lehmann Maupin, Seoul, Korea
  • One Minute in Taipei, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei City, Taiwan (curator: Jérome Sans)
  • Big, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria
  • Fastentuch und 12 Skulpturen, Stephansdom, Vienna, Austria
  • 2 in 1. Lars Eidinger und Erwin Wurm, Galerie König bei Ruttkowski 68, Cologne, Germany

2019

  • New Work, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Ely House, London, UK
  • The Serious Life of a Ridiculous Man, König Galerie, Berlin, Germany
  • Lehmann Maupin, Hong Kong
  • Home Sweet Home, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
  • König Galerie, solo booth, Art Busan, Busan, Korea
  • Hot Dog Bus, K11 Musea, Hong Kong
  • [mac] Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille, France
  • Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, France
  • Musée Cantini, Marseille, France
  • Chapelle du Centre de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, France
  • Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark
  • Offsite: Erwin Wurm, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada

2018

 

  • Peace & Plenty, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Switzerland 
  • Peace & Plenty, Albertina, Vienna, Austria
  • Hot Dog Bus, 
Public Art Fund, New York, USA
  • Villa «Le Lac» Le Corbusier, Festival Images, Vevey, Switzerland
  • One Minute Forever, Storage by HyundaiCard, in collaboration with the Tate, Seoul, Korea
  • Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines
  • One-minute Works. Sculpture as a Programme, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary

 

2017

  • CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil) São Paulo, travelling to CCBB Brasilia, CCBB Belo Horizonte 
and CCBB Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 

  • Fussballgrosser Tonklumpen auf hellblauem Autodach, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria 

  • Ethics demonstrated in a geometrical order, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, USA 

  • Austrian Pavilion, 57th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy 

  • Performative Skulpturen, 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria 

  • Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany 

  • MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany
  • Carl Spitzweg – Erwin Wurm. Köstlich! Köstlich?, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

2016

  • One Minute Sculptures, MAK, Center for Art and Architecture, Schindler House, Los Angeles,USA
  • Bei Mutti, Berlinische Galerie – Museum für Moderne Kunst, Berlin, Germany

  • Lost, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Marais, France

  • Zwielicht, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
  • Ende, Landesmuseum Niederösterreich, St. Pölten, Austria
  • Nudelskulpturen, Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany
  • The Philosophy of Instructions, BACC (Bangkok Art and Culture Center), Bangkok, Thailand
  • Bad Thoughts, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal 

2015

  • Euclidean Exercises, IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

  • Disruption, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland

  • Fichte, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany

  • Am I still a House?, Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden – Cragg Foundation, Wuppertal, Germany
  • Narrow House, CAC (Contemporary Art Centre), Vilnius, Lithunia

  • Interpretation, Galerija Vartai, Vilnius, Lithunia

  • Angst / Lache Hochgebirge, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria 

2014

  • One Minute Sculptures, Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

  • Sculpture 21st, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany

  • Synthesa, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, USA

  • Crap Head, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney, Melbourne

  • Some of this and some of that, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen, Denmark

  • Všetko je inak / Alles ist anders / Everything is Different, Dom Umenia – Kunsthalle Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Halle Verrière, Meisenthal, Lorraine, France


2013


  • Good Boy, MOCAK (Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow), Krakow, Poland

  • Wittgenstein’s Grammatik der Leibesübungen / Grammaire Wittgensteinienne de la culture physique, Galerie
Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Pantin, France

  • Synthesa, Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

  • Abstract Abstruse, Wincavod – Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia

  • Video Works, B3, Recife, Brasil

  • One Minute Forever. BOB, Artconnexion, Place François Mitterand, Lille, France

  • Das Kleine im Grossen, das Grosse im Grossen, das Grosse im Kleinen und das Kleine im Kleinen. Eine Wortskulptur, Dramaturgie by Matthias Hartmann, performed by Nicholas Ofczarek, Oliver Masucci,
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

  • Video: Wortskulptur, Salzburg "ANNEX", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

2012


  • Beauty Business, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, USA

  • De Profundis, Albertina, Vienna, Austria

  • Am I a house?, CAC Málaga (Centro de Arte Contemporáneo), Málaga, Spain
  • Home, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany

  • Samurai & Zorro, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

  • One Minute Sculptures, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, Great Britain

  • Kastenmann, Standard Hotel, New York, USA 

2011


  • The Beauty Business, GEM – Museum for Contemporary Art,
The Hague, Netherlands
  • Beauty Business, Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, USA

  • Schöner Wohnen, MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art), Vienna, Austria
  • 
Wear me out, Middleheimmuseum, Antwerp, Belgium

  • Misconceivable, Brandts, Odense, Denmark
  • 
Yes Biological, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France

  • Narrow House, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria

  • Their Time, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal

  • Micro-Retrospective, ICA-Sofia (Institute of Contemporary Art Sofia), Sofia, Bulgaria

  • Test Site: How to Make a One Minute Sculpture, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA 

2010


  • Liquid Reality, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany (curator: Stephan Berg)

  • Narrow Mist, UCCA (Ullens Center for Contemporary Art), Beijing, China (curator: Jerome Sans)
  • Private Wurm, Kunst der Gegenwart – Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria

  • Selbstportrait als Essiggurkerl, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria

  • MAMBO (Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotà), Bogota, Columbia

  • Elogiate i ceti inferiori soprattutto per rimanere inferiori, BASE, Progetti per L’Arte, Florence, Italy
  • Gulp, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, USA

  • Project – Selfportrait as Pickles, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, USA 

2009


  • Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich, Germany

  • Desperate Philosophers, Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

  • Desperate Philosophers, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

  • Würstelstand, Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania

  • Exhibition Institution of the Akbank Sanat, Istanbul, Turkey

  • Yes Biological, Wall House #2, Groningen, Netherlands 

2008


  • Keep a Cool Head, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia

  • The Artist Who Swallowed The World, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany
  • Spit in Someone’s Soup, Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden

  • Desperate, Galerie de L’UQAM (Université du Quebec à Montréal), Montréal, Canada
(curator: Patric Duhamel †)
  • Hypnosis, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

  • Tell, Salzburg "ANNEX", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

  • Ich – Es – Überich, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

  • Hypnose II, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria

  • Galerie Nicola von Senger, Zurich, Switzerland

  • Das Phantom Projekt, Kunstverein Arnsberg, Arnsberg, Germany

  • Videos and One Minute Sculptures, National Theater of Greece, Athens, Greece

  • The Artist Who Swallowed The World, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, Switzerland 

2007


  • Das lächerliche Leben eines ernsten Mannes, das ernste Leben eines lächerlichen Mannes, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

  • Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France

  • Hamlet, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

  • Le Lieu Unique, Nantes, France

  • Direktionsskulptur – con vista sulle mie montagne, Museum Het Domein Sittard, Sittard, Netherlands
  • STUK - Kunstencentrum, Leuven, Belgium

  • Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen, France

  • New Sculptures, Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels, Belgium


2006


  • Keep a cool head, MUMOK (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien), Vienna, Austria

  • The Artist Who Swallowed The World, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany
  • New Sculptures, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, UK

  • The Idiot, Sala de Exposiciones Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain

  • 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, Washington, USA

  • Adorno was wrong with his ideas about art, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

  • Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal

  • Home, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France

  • Disziplin der Subjektivität, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria 

2005


  • MACRO – Museo d‘Arte Contemporanea Roma, Roma, Italy

  • I love my time, I don’t like my time. Recent works by Erwin Wurm, Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

  • Museu do Chiado, Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon, Portugal

  • Glue your brain, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia

  • The Idiot, Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

  • Am I a House?, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria


2004


  • I love my time, I don’t like my time. Recent works by Erwin Wurm, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA

  • European Dream, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico (curator: Pamela Echeverria)

  • Palazzo Fichera, Catania, Italy

  • Photo and Video Sculpture by Erwin Wurm, KvadraT Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia

  • Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, USA

  • Jack Hanley Gallery, Los Angeles, USA 

2003


  • ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie), Karlsruhe, Germany

  • European Dream, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico; Casa ITESO-Clavigero, Guadalajara, Mexico (curator: Pamela Echeverria)

  • One Minute Sculptures, Orifice, ACCA (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art), Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne, Australia
  • Erwin Wurm videos, RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), Providence, Rhode Islands, USA

  • One Minute Sculptures, FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Marseille, France

  • Galerie Ars Futura, Zurich, Switzerland

  • Unlimited Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece

  • Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France


2002


  • Fat Survival. Handlungsformen der Skulptur, Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

  • Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France

  • Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy

  • Fat Car, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

  • Sculptures with embarrassment, Studio K – Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland

  • Videoarbeiten 1989-2002, Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

  • Galerie Art: Concept, Paris, France

  • Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, USA

  • Sylvie Fleury and Erwin Wurm, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria 

2001


  • Performance Drawings, Drawing Center, New York, USA

  • Sleeping for two months, Centre pour l’Image Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Videos 1991–2001, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

  • Fat car, MAMCO (Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain), Geneva, Switzerland


2000


  • The Photographers Gallery, London, UK

  • FRAC Limousin, Limoges, France

  • Feelings, L’Ecole des Beaux-arts, Rouen, France

  • Galerie Art:Concept, Paris, France

  • Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, USA

  • Unlimited Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece

  • Art Gallery, Ontario, Canada

  • Centre pour l’Image Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland 

1999


  • Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria

  • FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon, France

  • CAN (Centre d’art Neuchâtel), Neuchâtel, Switzerland

  • Project wall, Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

1998


  • INOVA (Institute of Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, Switzerland


1997


  • The Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

  • One minute sculptures, Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen, Germany

1996


  • Galerie Wilma Lock, St. Gallen, Switzerland

  • 12 Mülleimer / Garbage cans, MAK(Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art), Säulenhalle, Vienna, Austria
  • Galerie Krinzinger, Wien, Austria 

1995


  • 22° C, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

  • Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

  • Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, USA

  • Forum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Kunstbunker, Nuremberg, Germany

1994


  • Galerie Sylvana Lorenz, Paris, France

  • 22° C, MUMOK (Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien), 20er Haus, Vienna, Austria 

1993


  • Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

  • Villa Arson, Nice, France

  • Staub in der Sammlung des Museums am Ostwall, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany

1991


  • Wiener Zimmer, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria

  • Zeichnungen, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
  • Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, USA 

1990


  • Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

  • Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria
  • Bildhauerfotografien, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
  • Kärntner Landesgalerie, Klagenfurt, Austria

1988

  • Salzburger Kunstverein, Künstlerhaus, Salzburg, Austria
  • Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria


1987


  • Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aargau, Switzerland (with Alois Mostbacher)
  • Halle Sud, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Frauenbad Baden bei Wien, Niederösterreichgesellschaft, Baden, Austria

1986


  • Gesellschaft für aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, Germany (with Alois Mostbacher)

  • Riva, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria (with Alois Mostbacher) 

1985


  • 121 Art Gallery, Antwerp, Netherlands

  • Kunstverein für Kärnten, Künstlerhaus, Klagenfurt, Austria 

1984


  • Forum Kunst, Rottweil, Germany

  • Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria
  • Galerie Stadtpark, Krems, Austria 

1983


  • Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria
  • Galerie Krinzinger, Innsbruck, Austria

  • Galerija Nova, Zagreb, Croatia 

1982


  • Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

  • Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Kunstmarkt Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany 

1981

  • Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria

1979

  • Galerie Armstorfer, Salzburg Austria

1978

  • Galerie Cool Tour, Graz, Austria