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Erwin Wurm — Adorno as Oliver Hardy in the Bohemian Girl (1936) and the Burden of Desperation
Erwin Wurm

Adorno as Oliver Hardy in the Bohemian Girl (1936) and the Burden of Desperation

A rotund figurative sculpture rendered in resin captures the unlikely fusion of philosopher Theodor Adorno and comedian Oliver Hardy, their shared corpulence becoming a vehicle for exploring the weight of intellectual and existential despair. The figure's body, clad in tactile corduroy, transforms the absurdity of slapstick comedy into a meditation on cultural theory and human suffering. Wurm collapses high and low culture with characteristic wit, using material contrast and physical exaggeration to blur the boundary between farce and philosophical burden.

Medium
resin, corduroy

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Day Sale

July 3, 2014

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About this work

Erwin Wurm, Adorno as Oliver Hardy in the Bohemian Girl (1936) and the Burden of Desperation

A rotund figurative sculpture rendered in resin captures the unlikely fusion of philosopher Theodor Adorno and comedian Oliver Hardy, their shared corpulence becoming a vehicle for exploring the weight of intellectual and existential despair. The figure's body, clad in tactile corduroy, transforms the absurdity of slapstick comedy into a meditation on cultural theory and human suffering. Wurm collapses high and low culture with characteristic wit, using material contrast and physical exaggeration to blur the boundary between farce and philosophical burden.

Medium
resin, corduroy
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Pop Culture Reference, Male Artist, Mixed Media, Conceptual Art, Social Commentary, Contemporary Sculpture, Resin Sculpture, Figurative Art, Austrian Artist, Dark Humor

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