Erwin Wurm: " WEAR ME OUT "

This summer, the Middlelheim Museum of Antwerp will be a playground for Austrian contemporary artist Erwin Wurm. A selection of 20 pieces, some on loan from international collections and others new, will be on display. The Wear me out exhibition is a true voyage of discovery through the open-air museum, where the visitor can wonder at Wurm's expressive art, while at the same time becoming a part of it. Erwin Wurm has invited fashion designer, Walter Van Beirendonck, to collaborate for the occasion.


Although Wurm claims that he became a sculptor almost by chance, he is completely at home in the genre. The forms and the materials he chooses always yield surprising results that both examine and push the boundaries of sculpture. A visitor to one of Wurm's exhibitions is far from a passive onlooker, but gets the chance to take part, to become a part of the artwork  himself, to join in with it. 


Wurm's work often makes use of everyday designs and situations from our own experience. His work is everywhere, in the streets, in everyday life: furniture, old clothes, houses, comics, household goods, amid cars, hand-knitted sweaters, and more...

Wear me out

Big Pumpkin, 2010 @Erwin Wurm @Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels

Photo Jesse Willems

Big Psycho, 2010 @Erwin Wurm @Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg/Paris

Photo Jesse Willems

Big Psycho, 2010 @Erwin Wurm @Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Photo Jesse Willems

Big Gulp, 2009 @Erwin Wurm @Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels

Photo Jesse Willems

Melting House @Erwin Wurm @Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg/Paris

Photo Jesse Willems

Big Sweater, 2010 @Erwin Wurm @Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Photo Jesse Willems

Fat House, 2003 @Erwin Wurm @Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels/ Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Photo Jesse Willems

UFO, 2006 @Erwin Wurm @Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels

Photo Jesse Willems

Misconceivable, 2010 @Erwin Wurm @Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg/Paris

Photo Jesse Willems

Knitwear Ceiling, 2011 @Erwin Wurm

Photo Jesse Willems

Wurm has created a new artwork in the Braem Pavilion using colorful knitting. The artist is wrapping the entire ceiling of the pavilion in a gigantic "sweater."

Performative Sculptures

@Erwin Wurm @Walter Van Beirendonck

Photo Gazet Van Antwerpen / Jan Van der Perre

Performative Sculptures
@Erwin Wurm @Walter Van Beirendonck
Photo Jesse Willems

Performative Sculptures
@Erwin Wurm @Walter Van Beirendonck
Photo Gazet Van Antwerpen / Jan Van der Perre

Performative sculptures, 2011 @Erwin Wurm and Walter Van Beirendonck
 @ Studio Wurm.  Braem Pavilion

Courtesy Erwin Wurm / the Middelheim Museum, Antwerp

Wear me out 

May 29 - September 25, 2011
This post is also featured on The Huffington Post