"Man hat hier das Gefühl, dass die Realität eine andere ist"
Austrian artist Erwin Wurm discusses his exhibition at the Museo Fortuny in Venice, where he confronts the overwhelming collection of the 19th-century polymath Mariano Fortuny. In an interview, Wurm describes the venue as a historic atelier house filled with tapestries and artifacts, and reflects on how his contemporary sculptures and performances will engage with the dense, time-capsule atmosphere of the space.
This exhibition matters because it stages a dialogue between two very different artistic sensibilities—Wurm's playful, often absurdist contemporary practice and Fortuny's eclectic, historicist vision. The show tests how a living artist can assert his own voice within a museum that is itself a total work of art, raising broader questions about curation, legacy, and the tension between preservation and intervention in historic house museums.