Erwin Wurm *
(born in Bruck/Mur in 1954)
Obama, 2013, acrylic, paint, 35 x 12 x 12 cm, one from an edition of 5 (left foot restored)
Provenance:
Gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (confirmation photocopy)
Private Collection, Germany
You once complained that „many people misunderstand my work“.
“They think it’s about the body or this or that object, but no: I’m primarily concerned with circumstance.” How much does it bother you that many people see your art primarily as funny?
It annoys me when my works are perceived in a truncated way. I realise that my art has a low entry threshold. You walk into a museum, see a fat car and think to yourself: haha, that’s funny. Unfortunately, many people don’t go beyond this first impulse, and thus criticism in the form of humour is much more subversive than criticism delivered with a sledgehammer. Markus Gabriel wrote: “In our late capitalist democratic society, it is not tragedy but comedy that is the appropriate form of ideological criticism.” I agree with that.
“At work, I am an army commander with a sharp sword”
Why is that?
I’m melancholy, not depressed. But above all, I’m angry. The wall came down, everyone was talking about the end of history, about a world without conflict. And now? Donald Trump, Putin, Orbán, Erdogan, but also the Clintons...it’s all enough to make me cry....
Erwin Wurm (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Magazin, no. 46,
November 2016 from an interview)
Specialist: Mag. Elke Königseder
Mag. Elke Königseder
+43-1-515 60-358
elke.koenigseder@dorotheum.at
24.05.2024 - 15:54
- Realized price: **
-
EUR 26,000.-
- Estimate:
-
EUR 20,000.- to EUR 30,000.-
- Starting bid:
-
EUR 20,000.-
Erwin Wurm *
(born in Bruck/Mur in 1954)
Obama, 2013, acrylic, paint, 35 x 12 x 12 cm, one from an edition of 5 (left foot restored)
Provenance:
Gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (confirmation photocopy)
Private Collection, Germany
You once complained that „many people misunderstand my work“.
“They think it’s about the body or this or that object, but no: I’m primarily concerned with circumstance.” How much does it bother you that many people see your art primarily as funny?
It annoys me when my works are perceived in a truncated way. I realise that my art has a low entry threshold. You walk into a museum, see a fat car and think to yourself: haha, that’s funny. Unfortunately, many people don’t go beyond this first impulse, and thus criticism in the form of humour is much more subversive than criticism delivered with a sledgehammer. Markus Gabriel wrote: “In our late capitalist democratic society, it is not tragedy but comedy that is the appropriate form of ideological criticism.” I agree with that.
“At work, I am an army commander with a sharp sword”
Why is that?
I’m melancholy, not depressed. But above all, I’m angry. The wall came down, everyone was talking about the end of history, about a world without conflict. And now? Donald Trump, Putin, Orbán, Erdogan, but also the Clintons...it’s all enough to make me cry....
Erwin Wurm (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Magazin, no. 46,
November 2016 from an interview)
Specialist: Mag. Elke Königseder
Mag. Elke Königseder
+43-1-515 60-358
elke.koenigseder@dorotheum.at
Buyers hotline
Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
kundendienst@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 200 |
Auction: | Contemporary Art II |
Auction type: | Online auction |
Date: | 24.05.2024 - 15:54 |
Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
Exhibition: | 11.05. - 23.05.2024 |
** Purchase price incl. buyer's premium and VAT
It is not possible to turn in online buying orders anymore. The auction is in preparation or has been executed already.