Further events
Ceremonial unveiling of ‘Gate’ by Erwin Wurm
The internationally renowned Austrian artist Erwin Wurm is donating his monumental sculpture *Gate* (2021) to the state capital, Düsseldorf.
The work, which is around four metres high, will thus become a permanent feature of Düsseldorf’s public space. The official unveiling will take place on Thursday, 5 November 2026, at 3 pm. The preparatory work and the installation of the sculpture will take place in early October.
Mayor Dr Stephan Keller will welcome Erwin Wurm on 5 November and thank him for the donation. The artist will be present in person to speak about the work and the background to the donation. ’s ‘Gate’ will then be officially unveiled. This will be followed by a small reception for invited guests in the theatre foyer of the Schauspielhaus.
A gate, a body, a threshold
With ‘Gate’, a significant and representative work by Erwin Wurm is being permanently installed in Düsseldorf. Created in 2021, the sculpture, made of lacquered aluminium, measures 400 x 131 x 76 cm and is part of the ‘Skins’ series. In this series, the artist’s relationship with his models plays a central role: for *Gate*, a cast of a human body was made, for which the well-known actor Lars Eidinger sat as a model.
The work takes up the familiar form of a gate and combines it with the human body. Through the extremely high-cut opening in the torso, the sculptor achieves an astonishing reduction in the body’s volume. The result is a form that appears fragile, seemingly frozen in time – caught between presence and dissolution, movement and stillness. The body seems to writhe around an invisible form and disappear into it. The limbs appear contorted and awkward, absurd and surreal, yet assert a powerful presence through their size and visibility. As if paralysed in their movement, they are reminiscent of after-images from the artist’s famous ‘One Minute Sculptures’.
As a passageway and threshold, ‘Gate’ simultaneously alters the perception of its surroundings. The monumental sculpture invites viewers to observe the urban space from a new perspective. In doing so, the work ties in with central questions in Wurm’s oeuvre: What defines a sculpture? How do bodies and space relate to one another? And how does our perception change when familiar forms and proportions are removed from their usual context?
About Erwin Wurm
Erwin Wurm (born 1954 in Bruck an der Mur, Austria) is one of the most influential artists in contemporary sculpture. Since the 1980s, he has been expanding and shifting the boundaries between object, performance and everyday culture. He gained international recognition particularly in the 1990s with his ‘One Minute Sculptures’, in which participants carried out actions according to his instructions and the human body itself became a temporary work of art. (Source: Düsseldorf Art Commission)
Mayor Dr Stephan Keller will welcome Erwin Wurm on 5 November and thank him for the donation. The artist will be present in person to speak about the work and the background to the donation. ’s ‘Gate’ will then be officially unveiled. This will be followed by a small reception for invited guests in the theatre foyer of the Schauspielhaus.
A gate, a body, a threshold
With ‘Gate’, a significant and representative work by Erwin Wurm is being permanently installed in Düsseldorf. Created in 2021, the sculpture, made of lacquered aluminium, measures 400 x 131 x 76 cm and is part of the ‘Skins’ series. In this series, the artist’s relationship with his models plays a central role: for *Gate*, a cast of a human body was made, for which the well-known actor Lars Eidinger sat as a model.
The work takes up the familiar form of a gate and combines it with the human body. Through the extremely high-cut opening in the torso, the sculptor achieves an astonishing reduction in the body’s volume. The result is a form that appears fragile, seemingly frozen in time – caught between presence and dissolution, movement and stillness. The body seems to writhe around an invisible form and disappear into it. The limbs appear contorted and awkward, absurd and surreal, yet assert a powerful presence through their size and visibility. As if paralysed in their movement, they are reminiscent of after-images from the artist’s famous ‘One Minute Sculptures’.
As a passageway and threshold, ‘Gate’ simultaneously alters the perception of its surroundings. The monumental sculpture invites viewers to observe the urban space from a new perspective. In doing so, the work ties in with central questions in Wurm’s oeuvre: What defines a sculpture? How do bodies and space relate to one another? And how does our perception change when familiar forms and proportions are removed from their usual context?
About Erwin Wurm
Erwin Wurm (born 1954 in Bruck an der Mur, Austria) is one of the most influential artists in contemporary sculpture. Since the 1980s, he has been expanding and shifting the boundaries between object, performance and everyday culture. He gained international recognition particularly in the 1990s with his ‘One Minute Sculptures’, in which participants carried out actions according to his instructions and the human body itself became a temporary work of art. (Source: Düsseldorf Art Commission)
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