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D I F F U S I O NPETERZIMMERMANN18 JANUARY 2016 | 18 APRIL 2016

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PETER

ZIMMERMANNBIOGRAPHY

1956Born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Since 1984Lives and works in Cologne, Germany

2007–2002Professor at the Kunsthochschule für Medien, Cologne, Germany

1984–1979Studies at the Staatlichen Akademie der bildenden Künste Stuttgart, Germany

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By Astrid WegePeter Zimmermann’s introduction to his artist’s book Eigentlich könnte alles auch anders sein (Actually, Things Could Be Different) gives a short but precise description of the interaction on which his – and ultimately every artistic – method is based: the transformation of the conditional form into an aesthetic reality, the moment of deciding, within a given field, in favour of one form – consciously generated or emerging partially by chance – and leaving other possibilities behind or aside. This moment of determination has a dialectic relation tothe moment of contingency, which has written cultural history as a principle of artistic production, be it in the work of Mallarmé, the Surrealists or Marcel Duchamp. It marks the interplay between presence and absence, the simultaneous creating and withholding of visibility.

To a certain extent, monographic texts about an artist’s work pursue similar processes of emphasis and omission. The periodisation of an oeuvre creates coherence and difference, subjecting it to the logic of continuity – or of disruption. If one views the publications, catalogues and texts about Peter Zimmermann, it becomes obvious that they are eitherdevoted to his works prior to 1998, which were received in the wider field of “Context Art” during the 1990s – in particular the “Boxes“, “Temporary Architectures” and “Posters”, or to the group of works produced as from 1998, consisting of large-format paintings with intense, glowing colours and polished surfaces, the motifs of which Zimmermann developed on the basis of what is now a comprehensive archive of digital images. Only rare attempts have been made to show these works in conjunction, as the present exhibition in Nuremberg does, and if so, the medium of painting is used to mediate, as Hubertus Butin exemplifies in his book Peter

PETER

ZIMMERMANNCOHERENCE AND DIFFERENCE

I“I THINK THAT EVERY WORK HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH GENERATING MARKINGS AND

IDENTITIES FROM THE UNMARKED SPACE. ART ALWAYS ACHIEVES BOTH; IT

DECONSTRUCTS CONDITIONS INORDER TO REPLACE

THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH“. NEW IDENTITIES

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Zimmermann Painting, published at the beginning of 2007. There, he compares and contrasts the “Book Cover Paintings” of the late 1980s and early 1990s with what he calls the “Blob Paintings”, which he categorises as an “independent and highly seductive form of abstraction” and a constructive continuation of the painting medium’s potential within a digitally influenced perception of reality.

Peter Zimmermann became well-known in the late 1980s, early 1990s with his “Book Cover Paintings” and his “Boxes”. In the case of the book covers, the motifs transferred to painting – on a larger scale – completely filled the pictorial field so that the outlines of the image carrier were congruent to the motif depicted and the paintings consequently developed an object-like character. The chosen originals – whether dictionaries, lexica, travel guides, classics of art and cultural theory, or monographic works on artists – made it very difficult to discern personal preferences. They spanned a range between theoretical reflection on reproductive pictorial techniques – for example in Walter Benjamin (1990), a depiction of his classic The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in a cheap paperback edition by Reclam – and a concept of art that sees itself as authentic expression and existential selfassurance: Jackson Pollock, to whom Zimmermann referred repeatedly, represented acounterpoint to his own conceptual artistic approach, which reflects on the importance of reproductive techniques – here in the form of publications – in art (history) by assimilating standard works of art history. For example, Piet Mondrian or – in a later work – Minimal Art in the shape of a painting of the catalogue cover for the exhibition “Primary Structures” in New York in 1966 also served Zimmermann as patterns.

In his series of “Raster pictures”, the visual structure of which recalls the raster dots so typical of offset printing, but which was produced on the basis of digital patterns between 1999 and 2001, Zimmermann ironically highlights – also by referring to Sigmar Polke’s works – this older technique, which he nowPeter Zimmermann, Text Wege engl, korr. Fassung vom 11.10., S. 07.09.2015 ,7/3 merely simulates using digital means. In addition, in his „Book Cover Paintings“ Zimmermann already began to experiment with the material that he has used for his paintings up to the present day: epoxy or synthetic resin augmented with pigments. Depending on the concentration and fluidity of the pigments, this creates either a lucid or an opaque impression, but it certainly involves an inherent aspect of industrial chill and distance. The choice of material, therefore, is also a rejection of the idea of the artistically authentic signature.

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RING

2015Oil on Canvas200 x 300 cm

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PARTICLES

2012Epoxy resin on canvas

250 x 400 cm

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HISTORY

2014Epoxy resin on canvas200 x 145 cm

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DROP 18

2012Epoxy resin on canvas

150 x 110 cm

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SHINE

2013Epoxy resin on canvas270 x 170 cm

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FLASH

2014Epoxy resin on canvas

150 x 110 cm

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SPLIT

2014Epoxy resin on canvas120 x 100 cm

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DELTA 1

2014Epoxy resin on canvas

90 x 70 cm

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23HORIZON 2015, Epoxy resin on canvas, 100 x 200 cm

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25RED 2015, Epoxy resin on canvas, 100 x 200 cm

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FEZ

2015Epoxy resin on canvas 130 x 180 cm

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS2016Museum für neue Kunst, FreiburgAnima Gallery “Diffusion”, Doha-QatarMuseum gegenstandsfeier Kunst, OtterndorfHartlepool Art Gallery, UK

2015Nunu Fine Arts, TaipehLaleh June Gallery, Basel

2014Perrotin Gallery, ParisNosbaum und Reding Gallery, Luxemburg

2013Undertones, Wasserman Projects, DetroitJohyun Gallery, Busan, KoreaCrystal & fruits, Michael Janssen Gallery, SingaporeChrome, Dirmart Gallery, Istanbul

2012 Nosbaum und Reding Gallery, LuxemburgSoares Gallery, Lisbon滴 drop, Perrotin Gallery, Hong Kong

2011Panorama, Kunstforum und Kunstverein Schwäbisch HallMaxWeberSixFriedrich Gallery, MünchenZellweger Gallery, Lugano

2010Kith and Kin, Perrotin Gallery, Paris Next of kin, Dirimart Gallery, Istanbul

2009Distrito 4 Gallery, MadridMichael Janssen Gallery, BerlinSix Friedrich Lisa Ungar Gallery, MunichAll you need, Museum Moderner Kunst Klagenfurt (MMKK) (cat.)

2008Currents, Columbus Museum off Arts, Columbus Filomena Soares Gallery 2007 Wheel, Kunsthalle, NurembergReliance, Perrotin Gallery, Paris

2006 Capas de gelatina / Layers of jelly, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Málaga (cat.)DistritoQu4tro, MadridCialis, Xanax..., Perrotin Gallery, Miami

SELECTED WORK

PETER

ZIMMERMANN

2005 New Paintings, Crown Gallery, BrusselsOMR Gallery, Mexico City (with Thomas Grünfeld)

2004 Before After, Delaware Center of Contemporary Arts, DelawarePoles and Pokers, Michael Janssen Gallery, CologneFilomena Soares Gallery, LisbonPerrotin Gallery, ParisPeter Zimmermann. Malerei, 20.21 Edition Kunsthandel Gallery, Essen

2003 X-pollination [hængning og høring] (with Claus Carstensen), Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Esbjerg (cat.)Angstrom Gallery, Dallas

2002 Perrotin Gallery, ParisMichael Janssen Gallery, CologneKlemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New YorkZipp, Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel

2001 20.21 Edition Kunsthandel Gallery, EssenFlow, Kunstverein Heilbronn (Publ.)

2000 Six Friedrich & Lisa Ungar Gallery, Munich

1999 Meile Gallery, LucerneKlemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New York The Agency, London (with Steven Willats)

1998 Eigentlich könnte alles auch anders sein, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (Publ.)Kisten & Plakate, Städtische Galerie Donaueschingen

1997 (OmU), Otto Dix Haus, Gera (cat.)Kienzle & Gmeiner Gallery, BerlinBoxes + surfaces, The Agency, London

1996 Artist in Residence, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (Publ.)Remixes, Icebox, AthensÖffentlich / Privat (with Thomas Locher), Kunstraum der Universität Lüneburg and Künstlerhaus StuttgartUrs Meile Gallery, Lucerne

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BIBLIOGRAPHY (SELECTION)Marietta Franke, Interview, hrsg. ed. by Damiani / Galerie Perrotin, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, 2013

Andrea Madesta, Making of. Publikation der Kanzlei Ebner Stolz Mönning Bachem, Stuttgart, 2011

Joe Houston, Next of Kin. Katalog anlässlich der gleichnamigen Ausstellung, Gallery Dirimsrt, Istanbul, 2010

Andrea Madesta, All you need – Der Bildbegriff bei Peter Zimmermann. Snoek Verlag, Köln, 2009 ISBN 978-3-940953-03-2

Andrea Madesta (Hrsg.) : abstrakt abstract. MMKK. Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten.Snoek Verlag, Köln, 2008. ISBN 978-3-936359-79-9

Astrid Wege, Kohärenz und Differenz. In: Ellen Seifermann(Hrsg), Peter Zimmermann, wheel, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nürnberg 2007. ISBN 978-3-939738-98-5

Hubertus Butin, Peter Zimmermann. Painting, hrsg. von /ed. by Hatje Cantz Verlag Ostfildern 2007, S. /pp. 142

Margrit Brehm, The Reflection of Surfaces / Die Reflexion der Oberflächen / La réflexion des surfaces, in: Peter Zimmermann. Epoxiology, hrsg. von / ed. by Axel Heil und / and Wolfgang Schoppmann, Köln / Cologne 2006, o. S. / unp.

Stephan Berg, En flujo. In the flow, in: Peter Zimmermann. Capas de gelatina. Layers of jelly, Ausst.-Kat. / exh. cat. Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Málaga 2006, S. / pp. 10–35.

Margit Zuckriegl, Peter Zimmermann. Die Gedanken der Bilder. The thoughts of pictures, in: Vom bild // zum bild. metamorphose. From // to imagery. metamorphosis, Ausst.-Kat. / exh. cat. Museum der Moderne Salzburg Rupertinum, Salzburg 2005, S. / pp. 42–47.

Kai Uwe Schierz, Kunst als Sprachform. Zu den Bildstrategien von Claus Carstensen und Peter Zimmermann, in: x-pollination [hængning og høring], Ausst.-Kat. / exh. cat. Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Esbjerg 2003, S. / p. 17.

Detlef Stein, Peter Zimmermann. Pollock, in: Kunst nach Kunst. Art after Art, Ausst.-Kat. / exh. cat. Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen 2002, S. / pp. 202–204.

Jens Schröter, Es ist ganz schwer, überhaupt sichtbar zu werden ... It is very difficult simply to be visible ... in: Peter Zimmermann, Ausst.-Kat. / exh. cat. Kunsthalle Erfurt, Erfurt 2001, S. / pp. 6–43.

Alexander Braun, Gespräche mit Künstlern: Peter Zimmermann: Eigentlich könnte alles auch anders sein, in: Kunstforum International, Bd. / vol. 141, Juli / July – September 1998, S. / p. 324.

Interview von Peter Weibel mit Peter Zimmermann, in: Peter Zimmermann, Ausst.-Kat. / exh. cat. Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum (Artist in Residence, Bulletin, Nr. / no. 4), Graz 1996, o. S. / unp.

1995 Six Friedrich Gallery, MunichRemixes, The Agency, London

1994 Annette Gmeiner Gallery, StuttgartUrs Meile Gallery, Lucerne

1993 Tanja Grunert Gallery and Zwirner Gallery, Cologne

1992 Kunstverein Münster (cat.)Kunstforum, MunichKunstverein LudwigsburgHAM Gallery, Nagoya

1991 Tanja Grunert Gallery, Cologne

1990 Christian Gögger Gallery, Munich

1989 Annette Gmeiner Gallery, StuttgartTanja Grunert Gallery, Cologne (cat.)

1988 Richard Foncke Gallery, Ghent

1987 Tanja Grunert Gallery, Cologne

1986 Annette Gmeiner Gallery, Kirchzarten

1983 Tanja Grunert Gallery, Stuttgart

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GROUP EXHIBITIONS2013To Open Eyes - Kunst und Textil vom Bauhaus bis heute, Kunsthalle Bielefeld Happy Birthday, Perrotin Gallery / 25 Years, Tripostal, LilleBiennial Of The South in Panama 2013, Panama

2012The slide show, Mekanism Skateboards, mit Olafur Eliasson, Katharina Grosse, Guyton/Walker, Albert Ohlen, David Reed, Anselm Reyle, Dirk Skreber, Josh Smith, Peter Zimmermann, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand formal? mit Thomas Grünfeld, Wilhelm Mundt, Andreas Schultze, Rainer Splitt, Jens Wolf, Peter Zimmermann, Max Weber Six Friedrich Gallery, München Shibboleth, öffentlich/privat – Thomas Locher und Peter Zimmermann, Frederiksberg, Denmark

2011Farbe im Fluß, Museum Weserburg, Bremen (cat.)

2010Slick surfaces, Kulturform Witten (cat.)Beauty is Diamond, Laleh June Gallery, Basel

2009 Exquisite Corps Drawings, Armory Show, New York, Reloaded, Kunstmuseum BonnExtended, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Sammlung der Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (cat.)

2008 Platicismes, Centre Cultural Sa Nostra in Palma (cat.)There is Desire left (Knock, knock) Werke aus der Sammlung Mondstudio, Museum Wiesbaden (cat. 1.6.-23.9.2008)Vetrautes Terrain. Aktuelle Kunst in & über Deutschland – collector’s choice, Museum für Neue Kunst, ZKM Karlsruhe, 22.5.-21.9.2008 (cat. autum 2008) A Truley German Saving Grace, Norma Desmond Production, Los Angeles Open Space featuring European Kunsthalle, Art Cologne 2008 There is Desire left (Knock, knock) Werke aus der Sammlung Mondstudio, Kunstmuseum Bern 25.1.-27.4.2008 (cat.)

Abstrakt abstract. MMKK. Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten., Klagenfurt (cat.)

2007GMG Gallery Marina GoncharenkoStrange Brew, curated by Wolfgang Schoppmann, Max Lang Gallery, New York, 2007 (cat.) Small is beautitul, Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert Inc. NewYork Mechanism, Projektraum Galerie Janssen, BerlinNational Geographic, Norma Desmond Productions, Los AngelesMoskau Biennale

2006Different Realities, Crown Gallery, Brussels Floating forms. abstract art now, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen (cat.)

2005Waters and Watercolours, Georg Kargl Gallery, ViennaDer Kunst ihre Räume, Bonner Kunstverein, BonnThe Dazzling Show, Roellin Duerr Gallery, St. GallExtreme Abstraction, Albright Knox Art Gallery, BuffaloVom bild // zum Bild. Metarmorphose, Museum der Moderne Salzburg Rupertinum, Salzburg (cat.)Spinnwebzeit, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am MainRatatouille, 20.21 Edition Kunsthandel Gallery, EssenNach Rokytník. Die Sammlung der EVN, Museum Moderner Kunst – Stiftung Ludwig, ViennaDas schwarze Quadrat, Museum Ritter, WaldenbuchMiradas y conceptos, Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Badajoz10 Years!, Michael Janssen Gallery, Cologne

2004Rodolphe Janssen feat Michael Janssen, Rodolphe Janssen Gallery, Brussels Thomas Locher. Wilhelm Mundt. Peter Zimmermann, Six Friedrich & Lisa Ungar Gallery, MunichSchöner wohnen, Platform voor aktuele kunst, Baregem

2003Der silberne Schnitt. 25 Jahre Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg, Württembergischer Kunstverein, StuttgartKunstgriffe, Hessische Landesbank, Frankfurt am Main (cat.)Der weite Blick, Galerie Rolf Ricke, CologneOhne Titel, Produzentengalerie, HamburgPreview 2003, The Happy Lion, Los AngelesReProduction 2, Galerie Georg Kargl, ViennaSchweigen, Oberlandesgericht, Cologne New Abstract Painting. Painting Abstract Now. Abstraktion in der Neuen Malerei, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen (cat.) For All. Jack Helgesen Collection, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen (cat.)Parr Pictures (still cheap), 20.21 Edition Kunsthandel Gallery, Essen

2002Art & Economy, Deichtorhallen Hamburg (cat.)Swing Club, Michael Janssen Gallery, CologneZipp, Kunstverein KasselSchwarzwald Hochstraße, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-BadenShopping. 100 Jahre Kunst und Konsum, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main (cat.)von ... der Farbe, Monika Reitz Gallery, Frankfurt am MainKunst nach Kunst. Art after Art, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen (cat.) ReProduction, Bernard Knaus Gallery, MannheimPost-Digital Painting, Cranbrook Art Museum, DetroitIconoclash, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (cat.)Bilder einer Bank – Die Neuerwerbungen, WGZ-Bank, Düsseldorf (cat.)

2001Jackson Pollock, Zwinger Gallery, BerlinDer Larsen Effekt. Prozesshafte Resonanzen in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, OK Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz u. a. / et al.

SELECTED WORK

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ZIMMERMANN

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2000Reality Bites, Kunsthalle, Nuremberg The Very First, Galerie Rivet, Cologne Orbis Terrarum. Ways of Worldmaking. Carthography and Contemporary Art, Museum Plantin Moretus, Antwerp (cat.)Zeitgenossen / Contemporarians: Malerei / Paintings, 20.21 Galerie Edition Kunsthandel, Essen Griffelkunst, Kunsthaus HamburgMöbel, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, GrazStanze, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bolzano (cat.)Close Up. Oberfläche und Nahsicht in der zeitgenössischen bildenden Kunst und im Film, Kunstverein im Marienbad, Freiburg im Breisgau, Kunstverein Baselland, Basel and Kunstverein Hanover (cat.)

1999Rethinking Knowledge, OFW, Universität zu Köln, Cologne (cat.)Collection 99, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, LeipzigTrace, The Liverpool Biennale of Contemporary Art, Liverpool (cat.)Zoom. Ansichten zur deutschen Gegenwartskunst. Sammlung Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Forum der Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart and al. (cat.)haltbar bis ... immer schneller, Kunsthalle Krems

1998Ausgewählte Arbeiten, Goebel Gallery, Stuttgart

1997Glossy, Michael Janssen Gallery, CologneVon Airo bis Zimmermann, Gasser & Grunert Gallery, CologneBildraum erweitert, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle (cat.)Wortwechsel, Ausstellungsraum Lothringer Straße, Munich (cat.)Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße in Bremen zu Gast im Bonner Kunstverein, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (cat.)Andere Orte: öffentliche Räume und Kunst, Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau, Kartause IttingenMitteln. raum vor ort, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (cat.)Unconditioned State of Search, Transmission Gallery, GlasgowKunst ... Arbeit, Forum der Südwest LB, Stuttgart (cat.)

1996Angebote, Kunstraum, MunichPrivate View, Henry Moore Foundation, Bowes Museum Barnard Castle, Darlington (cat.)Sommerlust, Galerie Urs Meile, LucerneSurfing Systems, Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel (cat.)Kunst im Anschlag, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne (cat.)Zufall und systematische Unordnung. Paper Art 6, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren (cat.)

1995Pittura / Immedia. Malerei in den 90er Jahren, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (cat.)Shift, Stichting de Appel, Amsterdam (cat.)Das Ende der Avantgarde. Kunst als Dienstleistung, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich (cat.)On Beauty, Regina Gallery, Moscow

1994Schnittstellen, Kunstverein Heidelberg (cat.)Aura, Wiener Secession, Vienna (cat.)Miniatures, The Agency, LondonDas Jahrhundert des Multiple. Von Duchamp bis zur Gegenwart, Deichtorhallen Hamburg (cat.)The Art and Media Exhibition, Magic Media-Hallen, CologneTemporary translation(s) – Sammlung Schürmann, Deichtorhallen Hamburg (cat.)

1993Kunst um Kunst, Kunsthalle Bielefeld (cat.)Re-Present, Todd Gallery, LondonAperto. Biennale di Venezia, Venice (cat.)Kontext Kunst, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (cat.)

1992Kunstprodukt Heimat, Morath Institut, Freiburg im BreisgauArt meets Ads, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (cat.)Refusing to Surface, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (cat.)

1991Wir über uns, Annette Gmeiner Gallery, StuttgartVis-à-vis, Anciennes Etablissements, Liege

1990How to Look at Art-Talk, Galerie Annette Gmeiner, StuttgartKontexte, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (cat.)

1988Tanja Grunert Gallery, Cologne

1987Denkpause, Karsten Schubert Gallery and Maureen Paley Gallery, London

1985Annette Gmeiner Gallery, Kirchzarten

1984Eine andere Plastik, Gutenbergstr. 62, StuttgartKunstlandschaft BRD, Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel

1981Tanja Grunert Gallery, Stuttgart

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