SITTARD, NETHERLANDS.-Museum Het Domein presents the first solo museum exhibition in the Netherlands of works by Erwin Wurm (1954, Vienna). With profound humour and great elegance, the Austrian artist gives the concept of sculpture a fresh, contemporary form. In Sittard, Wurm will present mainly new work: One Minute Sculptures, objects, photos, video works and an installation, in which he refers to Voglie vedere i miei montagne by the German artist Joseph Beuys.

In his work, Wurm seeks a dialogue between the conceptual and performance art of the 1960s and the formal vocabulary of classical sculpture. For Wurm, anything can become a sculpture: a thought, poses struck for one minute or viewers following instructions. Through drawings, installations, photos and three-dimensional works representing bloated cars and houses (his FAT series) he provokes a clash in the relationship between person and object, between the supposed viewer and the art(ist). Subjects like obesity, the cult of consumption, fashion, music and advertising are juxtaposed with images of and references to philosophers, politics and the art world. Accessible and tending towards the absurd and surrealistic, Wurm’s art – which, in a sense, is all too explicit – nevertheless evokes a wide range of associations and so nimbly escapes the appearance of a fixed meaning. The critical and often acerbic connotations of his works allow them to transcend their accidental, behaviour-dependent and provisional character and become monuments of contemporary visual culture.

The title Direktionsskulptur is visually reinforced by the photographic work Angst/Fear. The subtitle, Con vista sulle mie montagne (With a view of my mountains), refers to the installation Voglie vedere i miei montagne by Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), created for a gallery at the Van Abbemuseum in 1971. The misspelled Italian title of the Beuys installation means ‘I want to see my mountains’, and is a quote from the 19th-century painter Giovanni Segantini, who said these words on his deathbed because he wanted to be moved closer to the window. The installation, which fills the entire gallery, is one of the most autobiographical works by this artist, who is known for his unconventional and innovative visual vocabulary.

Since his first show in 1981, Erwin Wurm has displayed his work at numerous solo and group exhibitions in Europe, the United States and Asia. His photos for the lingerie company Palmers (1997), his One-Minute Sculptures and his influence on the Red Hot Chili Peppers music video Can’t Stop (2003) have brought him international recognition.

In early October, a catalogue of works by Wurm will be published in conjunction with this exhibition.

The T-time at the exhibition Direktionsskulptur: con vista sulle mie montagne, on Sunday 7 October at 12.30, will focus on the work of Erwin Wurm in connection with pop music.