Erwin Wurm Mindset

The exhibition Mindset presents new works by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm. Physicality and the process of absorption are central themes in Wurm’s sculptural practice, as is the relationship between self-image, identity and social norms. His Mind Bubbles place ovular forms atop spindly, cartoon-like legs in anthropomorphic reimaginings of the thought bubbles found in comic strips.

Watch a video of Erwin Wurm speaking about the exhibition

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Wurm describes the sculptural form as ‘a symbol of an idea or a specific thought, which is not described.’ In their exaggeration and deliberate play with proportions, the Mind Bubbles adopt central motifs from Wurm’s practice: the anthropomorphisation of forms and the relationship between object and body.

Erwin Wurm

Mind Bubble Walking (Mind Bubbles), 2024
Aluminium, acrylic paint
227 × 160 × 126 cm (89.37 × 62.99 × 49.61 in)

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It’s very simple: we are bodies first, though we consist of mental qualities and spiritual qualities and psychological qualities … And the body is our first measure of relation to the rest of the world.

— Erwin Wurm 

Erwin Wurm

Little Bertha (Mind Bubbles), 2025
Bronze, patina
260 × 160 × 90 cm (102.36 × 62.99 × 35.43 in)

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Rather than following the realism of earlier series, the legs of the Mind Bubbles gesture to his Bag Sculptures, which give designer bags a pair of elongated cartoon legs. According to the artist, ‘it’s not a question of creating a cynical image of human figures [...] but of bringing out an abstract quality in everyday realities.’

Erwin Wurm

Mind Bubble Leg Up (Mind Bubbles), 2024
Aluminium
240 × 140 × 160 cm (94.49 × 55.12 × 62.99 in)

Erwin Wurm

It's Not Me, It's Not You (Mind Bubbles), 2025
Aluminium, acrylic paint
200 × 190 × 116 cm (78.74 × 74.8 × 45.67 in)

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In Wurm’s works, clothing – such as the colourful knitted sweaters worn by some of the Mind Bubbles – serves as a way to further humanise his sculptures while at the same time drawing attention to inherent social codes. While the Bag Sculptures comment on how fashion is tied to identity, status and consumerism through its relationship to the body, the Mind Bubbles represent the inner world of an individual.

Erwin Wurm

Untitled (Mind Bubbles), 2008
Aluminium, paint
85 × 108 × 50 cm (33.46 × 42.52 × 19.69 in)

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I work a lot with clothing in my art. For me, it reveals something very fundamental about our psyche, because clothing allows us to constantly redefine ourselves, reinvent ourselves, and present ourselves differently.

— Erwin Wurm 

Erwin Wurm

Mental Blue with Double Erection (Mind Bubbles), 2008/25
Aluminium, paint
67 × 125 × 54 cm (26.38 × 49.21 × 21.26 in)

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The sculptures in the exhibition are the result of the artist’s long-standing preoccupation with universal, recurring patterns and roles in the human psyche, as well as the sculptural potential of various states of mind. Deformed proportions, absurd poses and everyday objects combine to create works that give form to our inner world, our thoughts.

Erwin Wurm

Tall Grey (Mind Bubbles), 2024
Aluminium, paint
300 × 82 × 78 cm (118.11 × 32.28 × 30.71 in)

Erwin Wurm

Tall Yellow (Mind Bubbles), 2024
Aluminium, paint
260 × 75 × 70 cm (102.36 × 29.53 × 27.56 in)

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Also on view in the exhibition are small-format ceramic sculptures created in collaboration with the renowned Austrian ceramic manufacturer Gmundner Keramik, which play with ambivalent representations of humanity. The works, glazed in bright colours, take up the forms of such everyday objects as cups and jugs, that are assembled into human-like figures. Wurm’s ceramic sculptures reveal the process of their creation: they are the result of deliberate deformation and rely on the gestural power of clay – a medium that corresponds to Wurm’s performative approach. 

Erwin Wurm

Idol, Arm Bent, 2025
Ceramic, glaze
38 × 26 × 15 cm (14.96 × 10.24 × 5.91 in)

Erwin Wurm

Idol, Big Head, 2025
Ceramic, glaze
43 × 31 × 24 cm (16.93 × 12.2 × 9.45 in)

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Learn more about the artist  

 

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