connect: @bwurtz4
B. Wurtz
B. Wurtz (Pasadena, USA, 1948). Lives and works in New York, USA. He holds a BA from University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley and a MFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia.
B. Wurtz’s work has been the subject of international exhibitions most recently at Institute Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; La Casa Encendida, Madrid; Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg; The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield and White Flag Projects, Saint Louis, among others.
installation view, B. Wurtz
White Flag Projects, Saint Louis, 2012
B. Wurtz.
“Funny minimalist” B. Wurtz transforms disposable common objects like plastic bags and aluminium trays into sculptures. Attracted to the formal beauty of the ordinary and the overlooked, Wurtz's art celebrates the artistic potential of what is typically thrown away. His use of assemblage and found objects provoke the question of value in the art world, both confronting and continuing the artistic tradition of Duchamp.
B. Wurtz, Pan Paintings, 1992-2016. Acrylic on aluminium. Dimensions variable
Exhibition view Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 2015
B. Wurtz, Kitchen Trees, 2018
Public Art Fund commission City Hall Park, New York
B. Wurtz
Untitled, 2012
wood, wire, cardboard, screws, metal hook and eye
54.6 × 81.3 × 21.6 cm (21 1/2 × 32 × 8 1/2 in)
B. Wurtz
Untitled, 2001
wood, wire, mesh netting
76.2 × 55.9 × 20.3 cm (30 × 22 × 8 in)
B. Wurtz
Untitled, 2003
wood, plastic bags, plastic, wire, pushpins
106.7 × 63.5 × 29.2 cm (42 × 25 × 11 3/16 in)
B. Wurtz
Untitled, 2000
Wood, wire, mesh netting
73.7 × 30.5 × 27.9 cm (29 × 12 × 11 in)
B. Wurtz
Untitled, 2007
Wood, wire, plastic bags, mesh bag, string, clothespin, shoelace and thread
198 × 56 × 91 cm (78 × 22 × 36 in)
Installation view of B. Wurtz: This Has No Name
Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. September 30, 2018–February 3, 2019
Photo: Brian Forrest/ICA LA