Considered the most important living Austrian sculptor, who was previously chosen to represent his country at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017, over the course of his long and prolific career Erwin Wurm (1954) has radically expanded the concept of sculpture, challenging notions of time, mass and surface, and abstraction and representation, and for many decades has used clothing to address sculptural issues. Published to mark Wurm’s major solo show, held in conjunction with the Biennale Arte 2026, the volume, produced in collaboration with Élise Mougin-Wurm, relates the works of this leading contemporary artist – who explores the idea of the human body as a sculpture – to the spirit of such a magical place as the Museo Fortuny, where the dialogue centres on the body, clothing, sculpture, spatial vision and painting. Through the essays by Elisabetta Barisoni and Cristina Da Roit and compelling imagery, the book retraces the artist’s solo exhibition, establishing fruitful comparisons between his contemporary works and Fortuny’s rich legacy of textiles, light, theatre, and experimentation. It delves into themes of clothing, presence, and absence, presenting sculptural “garments” and enclosures that evoke the human body through the interplay of form and void. The book features installation views and a selection of Erwin’s most recent works, alongside iconic and seminal works from across his career, such as the One Minute Sculptures series, which has made Wurm famous since the 1990s.
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