Erwin Wurm: Trap Of The Truth – Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield

A wintery day is perfect to explore work by Ewrin Wurm both indoors and outdoors at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

A Little History of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, to Begin With

For those who are here to read about Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP)’s latest exhibition, never fear – it’s coming very soon. But as many of my readers are based in London or even further afield, I thought it prudent to start with a little background on YSP.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a 224 hectare park in West Bretton near Wakefield, Yorkshire. Opened in 1977, this was the UK’s first sculpture park dedicated to temporary outdoor exhibitions. It took inspiration from similar temporary exhibitions held in London in the post-war period. YSP shares Bretton Park with a 100 hectare nature reserve. Bretton Park was once the grounds of Bretton Hall, a still extant 18th century house which passed through several families before being sold to West Riding County Council. From 1949 to 2001 Bretton Hall was home to Bretton Hall College for teacher training. The college merged with Leeds University from 2001 until 2007, when it closed (the college, not the university). Work on transforming the house into a hotel, approved in 2013, is very slow indeed.

YSP contains several structures related to Bretton Hall, in addition to the hall itself. There is, for instance, a deer shelter, ice house, and camellia house. Artists have from time to time adapted these into their artworks. New gallery spaces and facilities supplement the historic buildings. Outdoors there are a blend of short- and long-duration temporary installations. Yorkshire’s famous sculptors including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth have been well-represented over the years, with programming focusing on modern and contemporary artists. Find out more about YSP here.

Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth

Onwards, now, to the exhibition on at YSP when I visited recently. This was Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth. Or in actual fact this was one of the exhibitions: as there were also long-term temporary exhibitions by Damien Hirst and others, a work called Light Organ in YSP’s chapel space, selling exhibitions, and one or two more. A busy programme indeed. But we are here to talk about Erwin Wurm.

Born in 1954, Wurm is a prominent artist in his native Austria, having amongst other highlights represented Austria at the 2017 Venice Biennale. He studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and has a multi-disciplinary practice despite being best known for sculpture.

Wurm’s work has for decades employed humour and cut through expectations in order to create sculptures in which anyone can be the audience or frequently a participant or art object themselves. He takes national symbols like gherkins or wieners (as in the sausages, named for Wien/Vienna) and subverts them by increasing them to gargantuan sizes, having them ‘crush’ objects like houses or cars, or giving them legs. In a long-standing series One Minute Sculptures, Wurm provides written instructions for visitors to become a sculpture by undertaking a certain action. Putting one’s head beneath a lamp, for instance, or lying across two stools. This is sculpture which doesn’t take itself, or the art world, too seriously.

Subverting Perceptions of Everyday Objects

That is not to say that Wurm is all surrealism and humour. No, there is most definitely a serious undertone here. A commentary on commercialism and consumer culture is evident amongst all the depictions of clothing and accessories. Does a luxury handbag define its owner? How about cars, homes and appliances, squashed and crushed by Wurm’s interventions?

There are also a lot of references to philosophers and other thinkers in the exhibition texts. Kant, Plato, Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, Henry David Thoreau: rather an illustrious list for an artist whose work may not at first glance seem to run as deep as all that. This is an exhibition that encourages us to look beyond appearances, to rethink the objects around us, and to recalibrate our ideas of what art can be.

If you’re in the vicinity of YSP, Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth is worth a visit. The fun of the sculptures indoors and outdoors is perfect for families or dabblers in art. For those who like to mull things over it’s a slow burn, revealing more insights during and after your visit like peeling back one of Wurm’s sculptures of layered clothing. Pair it with a walk around the grounds after your visit to the Underground Gallery, to see works by Wurm and others whilst exploring Bretton Park.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Erwin Wurm: Trap of the Truth on until 28 April 2024