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)

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 selfimage, identity and social norms. Created from 2024, his Mind Bubbles place ovular forms atop spindly, cartoon-like legs in anthropomorphic reimaginings of the thought bubbles found in comic strips. 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.

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.’ 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.

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.

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.