Erwin Wurm, Performative drinking sculpture – Pollock cabinet, 2011, wood, metal and glass, 59 7/8 x 29 1/8 x 18 1/8 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg and Paris; and Lehmann Maupin, New York

Viennese art-prankster Erwin Wurm makes his American museum solo debut with Beauty Business, an exhibition focusing on the artist’s participatory Drinking Sculptures and domestic objects, at the Bass Museum of Art. Furniture is manipulated into ironic self-service bars, hoodies are comically cast on ghostly bodies, and sweaters are stretched over armatures to construct abstract forms that conjure visions of the surreal. Visitors are also encourage to create a sweater sculpture by pulling their wooly coverings over their heads and the curves of the body are suggested in massive cut-up pieces of Wurm’s Fat House installation. Amusing yet enigmatic, Wurm’s work has the power to confound the viewer while inviting a new interpretation of art.

Erwin Wurm: Beauty Business is on view at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach through March 25. View more works from the show and watch a Vernissage TV video of the installation below.

Erwin Wurm: Beauty Business, installation view at the  Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach

 

Erwin Wurm, Architecture, 2011, fabric and wood, 33 1/2 x 23 5/8 x 43 11/16 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg and Paris; and Lehmann Maupin, New York

Erwin Wurm, Home – gulp, 2011, acrylic and paint, 39 3/8 x 16 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg and Paris; and Lehmann Maupin, New York

Erwin Wurm, House II, 2011, bronze, 20 7/8 x 39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg and Paris; and Lehmann Maupin, New York

Erwin Wurm: Beauty Business, installation view at the  Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach

Erwin Wurm, City model, 2011, wool, wood and styrofoam, 45 1/4 x 20 1/2 x 48 7/16 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg and Paris; and Lehmann Maupin, New York

Erwin Wurm, Little Big Earth House, 2003/2005, silverplated bronze, 7 7/8 x 13 3/8 x 9 7/8 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg and Paris; and Lehmann Maupin, New York

Posted on: January 25th, 2012 by Paul Laster
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