An exhibition at Anna Schwartz Gallery

Erwin Wurm (b. 1954) lives and works in Vienna and in Limberg/Lower Austria

Known for his uniquely humorous approach to formalism, Erwin Wurm first attracted attention during the 1990s with his "One-Minute Sculptures". Visitors would themselves become the sculptures by following the artist's written and partly pictorial instructions, taking up absurd poses often involving everyday objects.

In his three-dimensional works he uses wood, styrofoam, resin, paint, ceramics and textiles. Humour permeates, yet his practice is also underpinned by a fierce critique of consumer society and contemporary culture.

The artist’s recent exhibitions include The Artist Who Swallowed the World, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (2008); Narrow Mist, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2010); Liquid Reality, Kunstmuseum Bonn (2010); Wear Me Out, Middleheimmuseum, Antwerpen, Belgium (2011); Beauty Business, Bass Museum of Art, Miami (2011), Dallas Contemporary, Texas (2012); Am I A House, CAC Malaga, Spain (2012); and Erwin Wurm- Good Boy, Museum of Contemporary Art, Krakow, Poland (2013). In 2011, Erwin Wurm’s “Narrow House” was installed at the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti as part of Glasstress 2011, a collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennale.

Crap Head runs at Anna Schwarz Gallery, Carriageworks from 22 February until 17 May 2014.

“My work is about the drama of the pettiness of existence, whether one approaches it through philosophy or through a diet. In the end we always draw the short straw ”

— Erwin Wurm