WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE

Wurm Erwin


Was born in Bruck an der Mur in 1954. He studied history of art and German philology at Mozarteum in Salzburg (1977-1979), he also studied at Hochschule für angewandte Kunst and at the Sculpture Department of the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna (1979-1982). Presently, he lives in Vienna and Limberg.

Erwin Wurm is a non-typical sculptor. From the very beginning, he has been involved in experimentation seeking the boundaries between action and sculpture, using everyday use items as materials. His interest in the everyday and in social issues (diseases of civilisation, consumerism) has led to creation of the works which offer witty and apt commentaries on contemporary reality.

Wurm makes use of diverse media: objects, video, actions, frequently combining them together like in the One Minute Sculptures series. He has presented his creative output at numerous exhibitions held at various locations of the globe. In recent years, audience could see his works at individual exhibitions. The most important include: Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (Switzerland 2008), Malmö Konstmuseum (Sweden 2008), Galerie L`QUAM (Montreal, Kanada 2008), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Salzburg, Austria 2008), Tomio Koyama Gallery (Tokio, Japan 2008), Deichtorhallen Hamburg (Germany 2007), Contemporain de Lyon (France 2007), Kunsthaus Zürich (Switzerland 2007), MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (Austria 2006), Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst (Aachen, Germany 2006), Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (Newcastle, Great Britain 2006), Sala de Exposiciones Canal de Isabel II (Madrid, Spain 2006), Galerie Anne de Villepoix (Paris, France 2006) or MACRO Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma (Italy 2005).
APE


APE which was presented at the ArtBoom Festival was a specific type of a sculpture writing itself in an incessant dialogue which Erwin Wurm has for years conducted with that medium. Despite its monumental form, the arm ending in a fist, it is not designed to be installed in space permanently, but it appeared in the space temporarily, fixed on a Piaggio APE vehicle.

The woollen-yarn-clad sculpture, roamed the city as a kind of a visual exclamation mark. It was like a gesture straight from the Dadaist tradition able to stir up commotion, surprise, or evoke a smile on faces of passers-by. Taken of the pedestal, it becomes a participant of public life of the cities which it appeared in. For two weeks APE was moving around Krakow, circulating between Mały Rynek and Plac Nowy in the Kazimierz District in Krakow.


Project curator: Marta Raczek

Pictures: Weronika Szmuc

12 - 22/06/2009

APE

Small Market - Nowy Square