Erwin Wurm
Big Disobedience, 2016 (installation view, Collins Park, Miami Beach, 2016)
aluminum, paint
Courtesy of the Artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong and Seoul
Photo: Daniel Portnoy

Offsite: Erwin Wurm presents recent works from this Vienna-based artist that demonstrate his focus on the body and his wry sense of humour. Featured at Offsite are three works that alter and re-envision recognizable forms in order to challenge our psychological perceptions of what is well known, including own bodies and familiar architectural forms.

 

Inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience,” Wurm’s Big Disobedience (2016) makes reference to the theme of political and social correctness. Half Big Suit (2016) consists of a figure fixed in an awkward position, one leg extended in the air, conveying the sense of distress experienced while undergoing a durational performance or holding a lengthy pose. The relationship between the organic transformation of the body through biological factors and the intentional moulding of objects in Wurm’s work is illustrated in his architectural structure, Flat Iron (2016). While Wurm considers humour an important tool in his work, there is always an underlying social critique of contemporary culture, particularly in response to capitalist influences and resulting societal pressures, which the artist sees as contrary to our internal ideals.

 

Throughout the duration of the exhibition, local artist Mike Bourscheid will develop a series of performance based interventions in response and in dialogue with Wurm’s sculptural installation.

1100 West Georgia Street between Thurlow and Bute Streets, west of the Shangri-La Hotel.