Which art books, prints and posters are available by and about this artist? Here is a sample of items of interest to a typical collector:
Erwin Wurm’s Photographs serves as a definitive retrospective of the Austrian artist’s subversive relationship with the photographic medium. Published in conjunction with his major 2020 exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) in Paris, this volume highlights how Wurm uses the camera not merely to document, but to complete and solidify his sculptural gestures. Ranging from his iconic "One Minute Sculptures" to broader explorations of physical absurdity, the work challenges classical notions of monumentality. By elevating fleeting, often ridiculous interactions between the human body and everyday domestic objects into permanent visual records, Wurm forces a profound reconsideration of what constitutes a sculptural mass.
RVB Books / MEP
Erwin Wurm is best known for his broader sculptural practice, this book focuses on his “Dust Sculptures,” a pivotal body of work from the early 1990s. Around 1990, Wurm reached what he called a “point zero of sculpture,” reducing form to its most minimal trace. Instead of traditional objects, he created the appearance of dust residues left behind after an object is removed. Using stencils and vacuum-cleaner dust, he fabricated these traces on sidewalks, chairs, and urban surfaces. Between 1990 and 1994, he photographed these fragile interventions as “photographic sculptures.” The works present absence itself: invented evidence of presence, where dust becomes the sculptural material. Photography is their only lasting form.
Erwin Wurm’s Self-Portrait as 47 Pickles operates as a brilliant, absurd subversion of classical portraiture and monumental sculpture. Expanding upon his 2008 installation Selbstporträt als Gurken, the Austrian artist applies his signature humor to the mundane form of the preserved cucumber. By emptying a single jar of pickles, coating each in painted resin, and elevating them onto individual pedestals, Wurm investigates how scale, isolation, and institutional presentation can radically alter the value of the everyday object.
Within his broader oeuvre of distorted forms, this project highlights his enduring commitment to challenging the boundaries of physical identity and sculptural mass.
