Erwin Wurm's 'Dreamers' and 'Double Dream' Exhibitions Open in Venice and New York
Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, known for his playful and psychologically charged sculptures critiquing consumer culture, has opened two concurrent exhibitions: 'Dreamers' at Museo Fortuny in Venice and 'Double Dream' at Lehmann Maupin in New York. The Venice show, timed to the 61st Venice Biennale, fills the Gothic palace with works spanning three decades, including his One Minute Sculptures from the 1990s and recent pieces like 'Rodin's Coat' (2023). The New York exhibition features new works from his Substitutes series of ghostlike bronze and aluminum garments. Wurm discusses his background growing up in postwar Austria, his father being a Nazi, and the societal norms of body shaming. He addresses criticism of his use of the word 'fat' in his Fat Cars and Fat Houses series, noting that new works will be titled 'Big'. His Fat Ferrari was made for a collector in Aspen. Wurm's work explores cultural amnesia, body politics, and commerce with surreal humor. The exhibitions run through June 6 (New York) and November 22 (Venice).
Key facts
- Erwin Wurm has two concurrent exhibitions: 'Dreamers' at Museo Fortuny in Venice and 'Double Dream' at Lehmann Maupin in New York.
- 'Dreamers' is timed to the 61st Venice Biennale and includes works from three decades.
- The Venice show features One Minute Sculptures from the 1990s and 'Rodin's Coat' (2023).
- 'Double Dream' includes new works from the Substitutes series of bronze and aluminum garments.
- Wurm's father was a Nazi and a policeman; his childhood involved body shaming and repression.
- Wurm's Fat Cars series includes a 'Fat Ferrari' made for a collector in Aspen.
- New works in the Fat series will be titled 'Big' due to criticism of the word 'fat'.
- Wurm's 2023 Yorkshire Sculpture Park exhibition excluded Fat Houses and Fat Cars due to concerns about offending obese people.
- Wurm lives in a 12th-century estate in Limberg, Lower Austria, where his sheep live inside 'Fat House'.
- The 'Dreamers' series features anthropomorphic figures with pillows as heads.
Entities
Artists
- Erwin Wurm
- Mariano Fortuny
- Auguste Rodin
- Thomas Bernhard
- Elfriede Jelinek
- Sigmund Freud
- Gottfried Keller
Institutions
- Museo Fortuny
- Lehmann Maupin
- Yorkshire Sculpture Park
- University of Applied Arts Vienna
- Financial Times
- Forbes
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- New York
- United States
- Limberg
- Lower Austria
- Austria
- Bruck an der Mur
- Vienna
- Rio de Janeiro
- Brazil
- Aspen