Born 1948 in Pasadena, California, B. Wurtz is best known for his playful and compelling sculptures constructed from discarded materials like produce packaging, construction lumber, and plastic bags. He received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970, and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, in 1980. The sculptor and painter currently lives and works in New York, New York.
B. Wurtz’s repurposing of everyday flotsam into joyous, humorous, and beautiful objects undermine grand artistic gesture while elevating the commonplace. The artist’s transformative amalgams of found materials have tended to coalesce around the subjects of “sleeping, eating, and keeping warm”—the foundational human needs named in his 1973 drawing Three Important Things. While his sculptures are often modest in scale, in 2018, the artist created his now iconic Kitchen Trees for the New York City Public Art Fund, transforming City Hall Park with towering columns of colorful colanders exploding with plastic fruit.
Wurtz has been the subject of over 52 solo exhibitions at prestigious venues including: Feature Inc. (1987, 1991, 1992, 2001, 2003, 2006, New York); Gallery 400 (2000, Chicago); White Flag Projects (2012, St. Louis); Kunstverein (2015, Freiburg, Germany); and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, (2015, Ridgefield, Connecticut). In 2015, the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom mounted a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work that traveled to La Casa Encendida, Madrid through 2016. In 2018, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles mounted a major solo exhibition of his work, This Has No Name.
His work has also been included in over 174 group exhibitions including: Pandora’s Box: Joseph Cornell Unlocks the MCA Collection (2011, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago); Building Blocks: Contemporary Works from the Collection (2011, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence); and Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s (2018, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.).
B. Wurtz
1948
Born in Pasadena, California
Lives in New York, New York
EDUCATION
1970
University of California at Berkeley
1980
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1982
B. Wurtz: Super-8 Film Presentation, Beyond Baroque Literary/Art Center, Venice, California
1987
B. Wurtz, Feature, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–March 14
B. Wurtz, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, New York
1988
B. Wurtz, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, New York
1989
B. Wurtz: Survival, Feature Inc., New York, New York, March 23–April 22
1990
B. Wurtz: Life, Feature Inc., New York, New York, April 12–May 5
1991
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, August 4–September 3
1992
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, May 27–June 27
1993
Daily Life, 1970–1993, Feature Inc., New York, April 14–May 15
1995
Mandalas, Feature Inc., New York, New York, March 9–April 15
1996
B. Wurtz, Ynglingagatan 1, Stockholm, Sweden
1997
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, February 28–April 5
B. Wurtz, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, California
1998
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, September 3–October 3
1999
B. Wurtz, Salle de Bains, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
B. Wurtz, Spak, Umeå, Sweden
2000
buttons. part 1, Feature Inc., New York, New York, January 8–February 5
buttons. part 2, Feature Inc., New York, New York, February 10–March 4
B. Wurtz: 70+30=2000, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, October 2–October 28
B. Wurtz, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, California
2001
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, November 15–December 23
2003
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, May 10–June 14
2006
B. Wurtz, Feature Inc., New York, New York, July 13–September 23
B. Wurtz, The Suburban, Oak Park, Illinois
2007
B. Wurtz: Photo/Objects, 871 Fine Arts, San Francisco, California, September 11–December 22
B. Wurtz, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, California
2010
B. Wurtz, The Apartment, Vancouver, Canada, May 24–August 10
2011
B. Wurtz: Works 1970-2011, Metro Pictures, New York, New York, June 22–August 5
2012
B. Wurtz and Co., Richard Telles Fine Art, March 17–May 4
B. Wurtz, White Flag Projects, Saint Louis, Missouri, September 24–October 20
2013
Recent Works, Metro Pictures, New York, New York, March 21–April 27
B. Wurtz, Kate MacGarry, London, United Kingdom, June 16–July 13
2013–2014
B. Wurtz: The First Twenty Years, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany, November 2, 2013–January 11, 2014
2014
B. Wurtz, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, California, February 27–March 15
B. Wurtz, concurrent solo show with Jim Isermann, Mary Boone Gallery, New York, New York, March 9–April 20
B. Wurtz, The Apartment, Vancouver, Canada, March 29–April 5
B. Wurtz 1972-2014, Maisterravalbuena, Madrid, Spain, September 9–November 8
2015
B. Wurtz: Selected Works, 1970-2016, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom, January 3–February 28
B. Wurtz: Daily Life, Continued, Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany, March 20–May 3
B. Wurtz, World Food Books, Melbourne, Australia, March 26–April 4
B. Wurtz: Four Collections, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, May 3–October 25
B. Wurtz: Works in Handmade Paper 2013–2015, Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, May 5–June 6
B. Wurtz, FOUR A.M., New York, New York
2016
B. Wurtz, Metro Pictures at 83 Pitt Street, New York, New York, February 21–March 20
B. Wurtz, Office Baroque, Brussels, Belgium, June 4–July 16
2016–2017
B. Wurtz: Selected Works, 1970-2016, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, October 14–January 8
2017
B. Wurtz, Lulu, Mexico City, Mexico, February 7–April 15
2018
The First Twenty Years, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany, April 28–June 23
The thin gate clanged, concurrent solo show with Paul P., Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, Canada, May 19–June 23
Kitchen Trees, City Hall Park, New York, New York, August 7–December 7
Domestic Space, Metro Pictures, New York, New York, September 6–October 20
B. Wurtz, Richard Telles, Los Angeles, California, September 22–October 27
This Has No Name, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, September 30–February 17
2019
B. Wurtz, Kate MacGarry, London, United Kingdom, May 30–July 12
2021-2022
B. Wurtz: Monday, Maisterrvalbuena, Madrid, Spain
2022
B. Wurtz: Monuments, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, New York, June 23–July 29
2023
"You Know. This Is How He Is," Office Baroque, Antwerp, Belgium, April 2—June 3
2024
B. Wurtz: Organic Yogurt and the Poetics of a Sock, SE Cooper Contemporary, Portland, Oregon, March 30—May 19
B. Wurtz, The Pit, Palm Springs, California, May 28—June 28, 2024
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1980
Group screening (Super-8), FILMEX (Los Angeles International Film Exposition), California
1981
Lynne Henkel, B. Wurtz, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, California, January 6–February 5
Alice Acerol, B. Wurtz, Lynne Henkel, White Columns, New York, New York, November 17–22
Group screening (Super-8), Empty Space Theater, Santa Barbara, California
1984
Post Olympic Art, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, California, September 5–October 6
1985
Post Olympic Art, Galerie Beau Lézard, Paris, France, January 7–February 9
1986
Six Sculptors, Artists Space, New York, New York, January 25–February 22
Promises, Promises, Feature, Chicago, Illinois, July 8–August 15
Religion: Painting and Sculpture, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, New York
1987
Actualities, Ledis Flam Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, September 12–October 11
Post-Abstract Abstraction, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, May 31–September 6
(of Ever-Ever Land i speak), Stux Gallery, New York, New York
Small Scale Sculpture, Atlanta College of Art Gallery, Georgia
Signs of Intelligent Life, Greathouse Gallery, New York, New York
Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Sculpture, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, New York
Gallery Artists, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, New York
Nature, Feature, Chicago, Illinois
INTAR Latin American Gallery, New York, New York
1987–1988
CalArts: Skeptical Belief(s), Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Illinois, May 6–June 27, 1987; Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California, January 24–March 20, 1988
1988
Re: Placement / LACE 10 Year Anniversary, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, California, March 2–April 12
Photo Poetics, Jack Shainman Gallery, Washington D.C., March 11–April 9
Photography on the Edge, Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 24–June 8
Near Miss, Feature, Chicago, Illinois, May 3–May 28
Information as Ornament, Feature and Rezac Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, July 8–30
The Logic of Display, P.S.1, The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Long Island City, New York
A Visible Order, Otis/Parsons Exhibition Center, Los Angeles, California
New Strategies, Jan Kesner Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1989
Cinderella Rockefeller, Feature, New York, New York, January 14–February 11
Romancing the Stone, Feature, New York, New York, July 6–August 11
Marta Cervera Gallery, New York, New York
Buttinsky, Feature, New York, New York
Poetic Objectives, Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, New York
Dorothy, Center for Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois
Double Take, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Films (group screening), Christine Burgin Gallery, New York, New York
1990
The Thing Itself, Feature, New York, New York, July 10–August 10
Perspectives on Place: Attitudes Towards the Built Environment, State University Art Gallery, San Diego, California, November 29–December 12
Work on Paper, Paula Allen Gallery, New York, New York
The New School Collects: Recent Acquisitions, Parsons School of Design, New York, New York
1991
Rocking Horses for Children in Crisis, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, New York, January 12–February 2
Objectionable Beauty, Jan Kesner Gallery, Los Angeles, California, May 11–June 15
Directly On and Off the Wall, Palm Beach Community College, Museum of Art, Lake Worth, Florida
1992
Another Subjectivity, Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt, Germany
Jori Felice, Richard Hawkins, B. Wurtz, Roy Boyd Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1992–1993
Tattoo Collection (organized by Air de Paris and Urbi et Orbi), Galerie Jennifer Flay and Urbi et Orbi, Paris, June 3–July 18, 1992; Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany; Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, New York, October 23–November 28, 1992; Luhring Augustine, New York, New York, February 15–March 14, 1993; Rubin Spangle, New York, New York, February 15–March 14, 1993
1993
Influx, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, November 1–December 4
les petits riens de la vie, La Galerie Volée à Une Muse, Lyon, France
1993–1995
The Return of the Cadavre Exquis, The Drawing Center, New York, November 6–December 18, 1993; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., February 5–April 10, 1994; Santa Monica Art Museum, California, July 9–September 6, 1994; Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis, Missouri, September 30–November 12, 1994; American Center, Paris, December 1994–January 1995
1994
Lessons in Life: Photographic Works from the Boardroom Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, March 26–September 5
Paintings, Feature Inc., New York, New York, March 26–April 23
Sex, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, New York
Projets et Dessins, Galerie Claire Burrus, Paris, France
Wood Works, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, New York
1995
Strung Into the Apollonian Dream..., Feature Inc., New York, New York, January 20–February 24
Representational Drawings, Feature Inc., New York, New York, April 20–May 27
Smells Like Vinyl, Roger Merians Gallery, New York, New York, August 4–17
Stretch Out and Wait, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, California
1995–1996
It’s Only Rock and Roll: Rock and Roll Currents in Contemporary Art, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 17, 1995–January 21, 1996; Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, Illinois, February 17–April 17, 1996
1996
Acts of Obsession, Carla Stellweg Gallery, New York, New York
Invitational +, Adam Baumgold Fine Art, New York, New York
1997
Flying Buttress Please, Torch, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, January 11–February 27
Hello, Feature Inc., New York, New York, July 8–August 15
Fake Ecstasy With Me, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, July 12–October 12
Bring Your Own Walkman, W139, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September 6–October 12
Normotic, One Great Jones, New York, New York
Twist, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, with Jean-Philippe Antoine and Stephan Melzl, Paris, France
1997–1999
At the Threshold of the Visible: Minuscule and Small-Scale Art, 1964–1996, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, August 30–October 26, 1997; Maryland Institute College of Art, Decker Galleries, Baltimore, November 21–December 21, 1997; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, January 28–April 22, 1998; Art Gallery of Windsor, Canada, May 2–June 28, 1998; Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, Virginia, June 26–August 23, 1998; Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington; Edmonton Art Gallery, Canada, April 10–June 13, 1999; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California
1998
Science, Feature Inc., New York, New York, February 21–March 28
Word Perfect, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, August 31–October 10
f.i.s.t., ANP, Antwerp, Belgium
Opens, M du B, F, H & g, Montreal, Canada
1999
Would have had, Cabinet, London, United Kingdom
Cookie Snow Feature, Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Pretty Happy Painting (with Michael Lazarus and David Moreno), M du B, F, H & g, Montreal, Canada
Sticker Shock: Artists’ Stickers, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Surface As Structure, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2000
Not a. Lear, Torch, Amsterdam; Art Process, Paris, France; Galerie S. & H. De Buck, Ghent, Belgium, July 19–September 14
Bubbles, Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art, Brussels, United Kingdom
3ness, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium
2001
Sharon Kaitz/B. Wurtz, Allston Skirt Gallery, Allston, Massachusetts
Double Visions, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York
Texty, M du B, F, H & g, Montreal, Canada
W, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dole, France
Not a. Lear, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York, New York; Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
Een Goed In De Weg Staande Tafel, Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2002
All That Glitters, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, New York, January 4–25
GTt2, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California
2004
Curious Crystals of Unusual Purity, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, June 27–September 27
Word of Mouth, A Selection: Part 1, Dinter Fine Art, New York, New York
2005
Studio: Seven Months of My Aesthetic Education (Plus Some) NYC Version and Climaxed, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France, April 1–30
Looking at Words, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, New York, November 2–December 31
The O Show, Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, New Jersey
Kresge Foundation Gallery, Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey
The sun rises in the evening, Feature Inc., New York, New York
2006
The Chair, Reconsidered, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Idaho, June 14–July 29
Dereconstruction, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, New York, June 30–August 18
Eldorado, Mudam Luxembourg, Musé2 d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, July 1–November 20
Kresge Foundation Gallery, Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey
B. Wurtz, Christopher Knowles, Herald Street Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2007
You Always Move in Reverse, Leo Koenig Inc., New York, New York, June 29–July 31
Chistopher Knowles and B. Wurtz, Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
Open End, Kinkead Contemporary, Culver City, California
2008
Styrofoam, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, March 14–July 20
Stephen Prina, James Welling, B. Wurtz, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, California, April 12–May 10
Living Flowers: Ikebana and Contemporary Art, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California, June 15–September 7
Shit, Feature Inc., New York, New York
The Box, Norma Desmond Productions, Los Angeles, California
Field Work, The Apartment, Vancouver, Canada
Object Salon, Honey Space, New York, New York
2008–2009
Peanut Gallery, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, November 22, 2008–February 1, 2009
2009
N’importe Quoi (Anything), Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, France, February 13–April 19
Phot(o)bjects, Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Lawrimore Projects, Seattle, Washington, April 10–June 7
Hello Goodbye Thank You, Again, Castillo/Corrales, Paris, France, August 10–October 3
Exposed Terrain, Martin Art Gallery, Allentown, Pennsylvania, November 18–December 18
Another ’80s, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, New York
Curated By-Vienna 09: B. Wurtz and Noam Rappaport, Galerie Steinek, Vienna, Austria
2009–2010
Skulture, Feature Inc., New York, New York, December 13, 2009–January 23, 2010
2010
“Mean and Sneaking,” FiveMyles, Brooklyn, New York, April 1–May 2
The Same Sight Slighter, Renwick Gallery, New York, New York, April 10–May 15
S(l)umm(er)ing on Madison Avenue, The Notary Public, New York, New York, June 5–September 11
Salad Days, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, October 21–December 15
Stuff Art, U-turn Art Space, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 6–27
2011
Cheat Chains and Telephone, Kansas Gallery, New York, New York, January 14–February 18
Two Fold, Michelle Grabner & Brad Killam home, Oak Park, Illinois, May 1–July 5
Underemployed, Zurcher Studio, New York, New York, November 15–January 24
Moment–Ynglingagatan 1, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Antic Measures, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany
The 2011 Bridgehampton Biennial, Martos Gallery, New York
Pandora’s Box: Joseph Cornell Unlocks the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois
Salon Zürcher, Zürcher Studio, New York, New York
The Potential of Twist Ties Remains Elusive, Paper Monument, Online
2011–2012
Building Blocks: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, May 6, 2011–March 25, 2012
2012
Xylor Jane and B. Wurtz, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon, January 17–March 24
Anagram City, Golden Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, January 21–March 3
Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, National Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, New York, March 8–April 15
I Surrender, Devening Projects + Editions, Chicago, Illinois, March 11–April 14
New Traditionalists, Martos Gallery, New York, New York, March 22–April 21
Everyday Abstract – Abstract Everyday, James Cohan Gallery, New York, New York, June 1–August 1
Bulletin Boards, Venus Over Manhattan, New York, New York, July 20–August 24
Creature from the Blue Lagoon, Martos Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York, July 21–September 3
B. Wurtz & Co., Richard Telles Gallery, Los Angeles, California
The Art of Cooking, Royal/T, Culver City, California
2012–2013
Everyday Things: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, April 13, 2012–February 24, 2013
2013
Prague Biennial, Czech Republic, June 6–September 15
The Cat Show, White Columns, New York, New York, June 14–July 27
Work, Klaus Von Nichsstagend, New York, New York, June 27–July 27
LAT. 41° 7' N., LONG. 72° 19' W, Martos Gallery, East Marion, New York, New York, July 13–September 2
Café Horizon (You slowly look around now – hold it), Arthur Boskamp-Stiftung, Hohenlockstedt, Germany, September 15–October 20
Goods, MoBY – Museums of Bat Yam, Israel
Ten Years, Wallspace, New York, New York
2014
Home Again, Again II, The Journal Gallery, New York, New York, January 22–February 23
This One’s Optimistic: Pincushion, New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, June 7–September 14
Chat Jet (Part 2). Sculpture in Reflection, Künstlerhaus KM, Graz, Austria, June 6–August 14
Joyride, Marlborough Broome Street, New York, New York, June 25–August 3
Displayed, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, New York, July 2–August 22
2015
Zabriskie Point, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, New York, January 9–February 8
The Lulennial: A Slight Gestuary, Lulu, Mexico City, Mexico, March 14–April 14
2016
Redeux (Sort of), Kai Matsumiya Gallery, New York, New York, January 5–February 5
Exquisite Corpse, Planthouse, New York, New York, January 8–February 17, 2016
2017
If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, Tang Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, April 22–September 24
A still life by Chardin, Lisson Gallery, London, United Kingdom, July 7–August 26
Social Photography V, Carriage Trade, New York, New York, July 11–September 17
Poor Timing, Hopkinson Mossman, Aukland, New Zeland, August 4–September 2
2017–2018
aroundabout Jack Jaeger, Kunstverein Langenhagen, Germany, December 7, 2017–February 11, 2018
N. Dash, Virginia Overton, B. Wurtz, Maisterravalbuena, Lisbon, Portugal, September 21, 2017–January 13, 2018
2018
Alan Shields Project, Van Doren Waxter, New York, New York, January 5–February 24
A Page from My Intimate Journal (Part 1), Gordon Robichaux, New York, New York, February 11–April 18
Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., February 14–May 13
When Geometry Smiles, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, New York, March 3–April 8
Archival Exhibition, Dieu Donné, Brooklyn, New York, September 26–November 26
2019
City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France, June 21–August 9
Kith + Kin, Lunder Arts Center, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 24–November 24
Sculpture Milwaukee, Wisconsin
deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts
2019–2020
Friends and Family, Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California, November 23, 2019–January 4, 2020
2020–2021
Energy in All Directions, Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, October 10, 2020–June 13, 2021
2021
La Boîte-en-Valise, Office Baroque, Antwerp, Belgium, January 9–February 20
C. Hodgson with B. Wurtz, Arcade, Brussels, Belgium, January 23–February 27
Four Rooms Four, VSOP projects, Greenport, New York, August 7–September 19
2021–2022
Happy Mechanics, Hollybush Gardens, London, United Kingdom, November 18, 2021–January 29, 2022
2022
Scott Treleaven, Cemrenaz Uyguner & B. Wurtz, Unit 17, Vancouver, British Columbia, March 18–May 1
2023
Bildet Banden/Band Together, Setareh Berlin, Berlin, Germany, June 23–August 19
Local Objects, International Objects, Brooklyn, New York, March 19–May 28
Drawings by Sculptors, Helena Anrather, New York, New York, January 5–February 4
2024
Michelle Grabner and B. Wurtz, Laurel Gitlen, New York, New York, April 18–May 18
Like a Nightingale with a Toothache, Off Paradise Gallery, New York, New York, June 17–August 17
Beyond the Surface: The Art of Handmade Paper, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee
15th Anniversary Benefit Exhibition, Carriage Trade, New York, New York
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
B. Wurtz: Daily Life 1970-1993. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Feature, 1993.
Farm 5: Raymond Pettibon, Dodie Bellamy, B. Wurtz. Vol. 1. New York: Feature, 1992.
Gimblett, Max. Actualities: Max Gimblett, Roger Jones, Stephan McKeown, Rebecca Smith, Ken Sofer, B. Wurtz. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Ledisflam, 1987.
Grabner, Michelle, Brad Killam, Forrest Nash, and Jason Pickleman. Can I Come over to Your House?: The First Ten Years of The Suburban, 1999-2009. Manawa: Poor Farm Press, 2009.
Hainley, Bruce. B. Wurtz. New York: Karma, 2016.
Kulok, Barney, ed. B. Wurtz: Pan Paintings. Exhibition catalogue. Long Island City: Hunters Point Press, 2020.
Jetzer, Gianni, Robert Nickas, and Leah Pires. Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s. Edited by Gianni Jetzer. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Rizzoli Electa, 2018.
Nickas, Robert, Pecoli Vincent, and Anne Drary. W. Exhibition catalogue. Dole: Musée des Beaux-Arts, 2001.
Sculpture Milwaukee 2019. Exhibition booklet. Milwaukee: Sculpture Milwaukee, 2019.
Sharp, Chris. “The Big Picture.” In Ian Pedigo: Works 2007-2010, edited by Lillian Davies and Chris Sharp. Exhibition catalogue, 11–18. Lethbridge: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, 2011.
Smith, Valerie. Six Sculptors: Villiam Harvey, Lisa Hoke, Steven Schiff, Ritsuko Taho, B. Wurtz, Yuriko Yamaguchi. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Artists Space, 1986.
Stillman, Steel. B. Wurtz. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metro Pictures, 2013.
Tutto. "You know, this is how he is." Exhibition catalogue. Australia: Tutto, 2023.
Winer, Helene, Bruce Hainley, and Laurence Sillars. B. Wurtz: Selected Works 1970-2015. Exhibition catalogue. Gateshead, Madrid: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, La Casa Encendida, 2016.
Wurtz, B, and Steel Stillman. Food and Watercolors. Portland: Publication Studio, 2012.
Wurtz, B. Blocks. Vol. 1. Paris: Onestar Press, 2006.
Wurtz, B. B. Wurtz: Philosophy from b to z. Brussels: Zulu Press, 2018.
Wurtz, B. 70+30=2000: I chose a Selection of My Artworks Made from a Thirty Year Period, 1970 until the Present. Exhibition catalogue. Chicago: Gallery 400, 2000.
PERIODICALS
Adler, Dan. “Phot(o)Bjects.” Frieze, no. 125 (2009): 139.
Andrews, Betsy. “The Chair, Reconsidered.” Idaho Mountain Express, June 14, 2006.
Artner, Alan. “Review.” Chicago Tribune, March 12, 1988.
“B. Wurtz: How to Rule Over Readymades and Help Art Students (an Interview),” Conceptual Fine Arts. December 3, 2018. https://www.conceptualfinearts.com/cfa/2018/11/02/b-wurtz-interview/.
Baker, Kenneth. “Wurtz Plays with Architecture, Illusion.” San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 2007.
Baker, R.C. “Chicken and Eggs.” The Village Voice, September 13, 2006. https://www.villagevoice.com/2006/09/05/chicken-and-eggs/.
———. “Unmonumental: B. Wurtz at Metro Pictures.” Village Voice, July 6, 2011. https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/07/06/best-in-show-b-wurtz-at-metro-pictures/.
Baran, Jessica. “B. Wurtz at White Flag Projects.” Art in America 100, no. 11 (2012): 192.
Boström, Patrik. “Review.” Västerbottens Folkblad, March 15, 1999.
Brooks, Amra. “Must See Art.” LA Weekly, December 26, 2007. https://www.laweekly.com/must-see-art-64/.
Campbell, Andy. “Reviews.” Artforum 57, no. 4 (2018): 218.
Cooper, Dennis. “Review.” Artforum 27, no. 10 (1989): 143.
Cotter, Holland. “A Show That Could Travel in Just a Carry-On Bag.” The New York Times, December 14, 1997.
———. “Art in Review.” New York Times, December 14, 2001.
———. “Art in Review.” The New York Times, January 30, 2009.
———. “Not a. Lear.” New York Times, October 12, 2001.
———. “The Sun Rises in the Evening.” The New York Times, June 10, 2005.
Cumming, Laura. “B. Wurtz: Selected Works 1970-2015 Review - Everyday Rubbish Reimagined.” The Guardian, January 3, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/03/b-wurtz-baltic-gateshead-review-everyday-rubbish-reimagined.
“Daily Drawings: Week One.” Slant, Artforum, April 24, 2020. https://www.artforum.com/slant/daily-drawings-week-one-82769.
Doran, Anne. “Review.” Time Out New York, August 7, 1997.
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Great Personal Meaning Only, 1970–1989
Wood, paint and tin cans
8 x 11 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches
20.3 x 28.6 x 28.6 cm
HA HA, 1976
Ink on paper, plastic, and colored paper
2 x 4 1/2 x 4 inches
5.1 x 11.4 x 10.2 cm
Untitled (Bears), 1979
Wood, wire and film transparency in sleeve
17 x 10 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches
43.2 x 26.7 x 8.9 cm
Untitled (Blue Frisbee), 1984
Wood, metal and blue plastic frisbee
Signed and dated
Untitled (Plastic Top), 1987
Acrylic on canvas, wood, and plastic top
104 x 36 x 18 inches
264.2 x 91.4 x 45.7 cm
Untitled (Red and Green Can), 1998
Can, paint, ink on paper, metal
6 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches
16.5 x 8.3 x 8.3 cm
Untitled, 2001
Wood, wire and mesh netting
33 x 22 x 12 inches
83.8 x 55.9 x 30.5 cm
Untitled (Fetish), 2013
Marble, wood, acrylic, wire, thread, ribbon, brass and buttons
12 x 4 x 2 inches
30.5 x 10.2 x 5.1 cm
Untitled, 2018
wood, wire, picture wire, metal, plastic lids, shoelace, ribbons, clothespins, plastic mesh bags, screw eyes and thread
48 x 22 1/2 x 3 inches
121.9 x 57.2 x 7.6 cm
Untitled, 2018
Wood, plastic bag, metal stands, yard stick, string, shoelaces, screws, towel, sock, plastic lids and mesh
88 x 60 x 60 inches
223.5 x 152.4 x 152.4 cm
Untitled, 2018
Dried acrylic paint tops, buttons, metal, wood and wire
29 5/8 x 5 x 3 1/2 inches
75.2 x 12.7 x 8.9 cm
Untitled (Pan Painting), 2019
Acrylic on aluminum
12 3/4 x 20 1/2 x 3 inches
32.4 x 52.1 x 7.6 cm