Trap of the Truth: Erwin Wurm makes his UK museum exhibition debut

A towering boxy figure in a suit. Anthropomorphised Austrian cuisine. A bendy truck appears to crash through the ceiling. These are just some of the surreal sights awaiting visitors at Trap of the Truth, a comprehensive exhibition of Erwin Wurm's work running at Yorkshire Sculpture Park from now until 28 April 2024.

The display, opened to the public on 8 June, boasts 55 indoor sculptures, 19 outdoor sculptures, and numerous paintings, photographs, videos and drawings, all sourced from the artist's immense archives. Visitors will also be treated to several works on display for the first time.

If you are new to the work of Erwin Wurm, the display promises to be just as engaging for you as it will be for fans looking for a deep dive into his back catalogue. As a showcase of his disruptive work that humorously challenges the boundaries of what can be classified as art, Trap of the Truth contains examples of sculptures that address societal demands and cultural beliefs.

Fittingly, the exhibition's title takes its name from the teachings of 17th-century French philosopher René Descartes. His work, which set out to question the subjectivity of truth, is most famously immortalised in the phrase "I think. Therefore I am" and lends itself well as a thematic counterpart to this artwork which interrogates every element of the surrounding world.

"At some point, I came to realise that everything surrounding me can be material for an artistic work, absolutely everything," says the artist in a statement. "To begin with, because I had no money and worked relatively quickly, I used scraps of wood and cans. Then I used old clothing, which did not cost anything, before ultimately realising that I could actually use anything around me. That was the decisive step, as then anything was possible."

Reaching back to 1991, the earliest work on display includes Renault 25, a full-sized model of the vehicle that has been reformed in a tilt so that it appears to be taking a sharp corner in a cartoonish manner. Gallery One also features the works Attacks and Concrete Sculptures, both of which lionise the spaces of solitude made famous by intellectuals such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Elsewhere, food from Wurm's home country of Austria is transformed into towering sculptures cut from marble in a series called Icons. These works take foodstuffs like bread, sausages and a coffee bean and immortalise them by placing them on pedestals and elevating them to the level of classical statuary. Alongside these works are items from Wurm's Dissolution series and works titled Double Ear Head, Noser and Mud Kiss, all of which see the artist playing with the idea of the human body and how it interacts with the world.

Completing the exhibition is a series called Flat Sculptures. These six works take the shape of oil on canvas, which Wurm started painting in 2020. Despite primarily working with sculpture, the artist translates notions of form and volume into brightly-painted canvases that have been stretched and distorted letters that spell out their respective titles in indecipherable shapes.

"Erwin Wurm's sculpture will be a riot of expression and colour against the green Yorkshire landscape and in the galleries," says Clare Lilley, director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. "His imaginative powers are limitless, and we hope visitors will be inspired, energised, confounded, and amused by sculptures that portray familiar objects but in an entirely unexpected way.

"Couture handbags grow long legs and arms and have a real attitude; a four-metre-high hot water bottle becomes a big, warm mother; a real truck bends and climbs a gallery wall; a gigantic gherkin stands proud. Wurm draws attention to how humans conform to society's demands, the psychological impact of contemporary culture, and how we use history and tradition to scaffold our lives.

"The exhibition will provoke and captivate, and it's a great pleasure and privilege to stage Erwin Wurm's first museum show in the UK."

As well as the vast body of work on display, Trap of the Truth will accompany a "lively programme of engagement activity." Centred around play, these activities promise to be an exploration of materials and the experimentation of the making process, which is found so often in Wurm's work.

An illustrated guide and catalogue featuring in-situ photography of the sculptures, drawings, paintings and photographs will also be on hand to accompany the exhibition. Learn more about Trap of the Truth by visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park website.