Peter Zimmermann

Peter Zimmermann (born 1956 in Freiburg im Breisgau) is a German painter, sculptor, object artist and university professor.

Life and education
Peter Zimmermann studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart from 1978 to 1983. Since then he has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums both within Germany and abroad. He works as a painter, sculptor and object artist. He was a professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne between 2002 and 2007.

Work
Zimmermann's work is extremely diverse. At the end of the 1980s he created his "Book Cover Paintings," in which the covers and titles of atlases, art books, travel guides and dictionaries were represented on canvas using epoxy. Through his cardboard objects he works with the spatial distortion of the written word and thus questions the relationship between text and image. The colourful motives in his epoxy resin images arise from digital templates, such as photos, film stills or diagrams, which he distorts by means of graphical algorithms and transfers onto the canvas in numerous transparent layers of epoxy resin. Since 2014 he has increasingly realised this conceptual approach through the medium of oil painting. Questions concerning the relationship between the original and its depiction as well as an engagement with the concept of the surface lie at the centre of his creative output. Zimmermann's work is to be found in numerous private and public collections, for example the Bundeskunstsammlung in Bonn, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The artist lives and works in Cologne.

solo exhibitions (selection)

 * 2016: Museum für neue Kunst, Freiburg, Germany
 * 2016: Museum gegenstandsfeier Kunst, Otterndorf, Germany
 * 2015: CMYK, dirimart Gallery Istanbul, Turkey
 * 2015: Nunu Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
 * 2014: sur le motif, Gallery Perrotin, Paris, France
 * 2013: Undertones, Wasserman Projects, Detroit, United States of America
 * 2013: Johyun Gallery Busan, Korea
 * 2013: crystal & fruits, Gallery Michael Janssen, Singapore
 * 2012: Galeria Filomena Soares, Lisbon, Portugal
 * 2012: drop, Gallery Perrotin, Hong Kong
 * 2011: Panorama, Kunstforum and Kunstverein Schwäbisch Hall, Germany
 * 2009: Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, Klagenfurt, Germany
 * 2008: currents, cma, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
 * 2007/2008: wheel. Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany
 * 2006: Capas de gelatina / Layers of jelly, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Málaga, Spain
 * 2004: Before After. Delaware Center of Contemporary Art, Delaware, United States of America
 * 2003: x-pollination. with Claus Carstensen, Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Denmark
 * 2002: Zipp, Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany
 * 2001: Flow, Kunstverein Heilbronn, Germany
 * 2001: Kunsthalle Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
 * 1998: Eigentlich könnte alles auch anders sein, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
 * 1998: "Kisten & Plakate", Städtische Galerie Donaueschingen, Germany
 * 1997: Otto-Dix-Haus, Gera, Germany
 * 1996: "Remixes", Icebox, Athens, Greece
 * 1996: "Öffentlich / Privat" (with Thomas Locher), Kunstraum der Universität Lüneburg and Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany
 * 1992: Kunstverein Münster, Germany

group exhibitions (selection)

 * 2013: To Open Eyes – Kunst und Textil vom Bauhaus bis heute, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany
 * 2013: Happy Birthday, Gallery Perrotin / 25 Years, Tripostal, Lille, France
 * 2012: The slide show, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
 * 2011: Farbe im Fluß, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany
 * 2011: Hirschfaktor "Die Kunst des Zitierens" ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
 * 2009: Reloaded, Kunstmuseum Bonn
 * 2009: Extended, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
 * 2008: There is Desire left (Knock, knock) Werke aus der Sammlung Mondstudio, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
 * 2008: Vetrautes Terrain. Aktuelle Kunst in & über Deutschland – collector's choice, ZKM, Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe, Germany
 * 2007: Moscow Biennale
 * 2006: Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen, Germany
 * 2005: Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Rupertinum, Austria
 * 2003: Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany
 * 2003: Morsbroich Museum, Leverkusen, Germany
 * 2002: Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt/M
 * 2002: Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany

Public Collections

 * Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
 * Fondation Cartier Pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
 * Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
 * Musée d'Art moderne de Saint-Étienne, Saint-Étienne, France
 * FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, France
 * Centre Georges Pompidou (Amis du musée national d'Art moderne), France
 * FRAC Aquitaine, France
 * Filmoteca universitaria de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
 * Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States of America
 * New York Public Library, New York, United States of America
 * Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
 * New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, New Orleans, United States of America
 * Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany
 * Neue Galerie, Graz, Austria
 * Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, United States of America
 * Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig, Germany
 * Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany
 * LB Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Books, Catalogues

 * Museum für Neue Kunst Freiburg: Peter Zimmermann – Schule von Freiburg. (German and English), SNOECK, Freiburg 2016. ISBN 978-3-86442-175-4
 * Galerie Perrotin: Peter Zimmermann. (English and Chinese), Damiani editore, Paris 2013. ISBN 978-88-6208-307-2
 * Andrea Madesta: Peter Zimmermann – Works since 1987 (German, English and French), Snoeck Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 2009. ISBN 978-3-940953-03-2
 * Ellen Seifermann (Herausgeber): Peter Zimmermann. wheel. (German and English). Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nürnberg 2007. ISBN 978-3-939738-98-5
 * Hubertus Butin: Peter Zimmermann. Painting. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2007. ISBN 978-3-7757-1959-9
 * Peter Zimmermann: Epoxiology. (German, English and French). König, Cologne 2006. ISBN 978-3-86560-179-7
 * Stephan Berg: Peter Zimmermann. capas de gelatina. (English and Spanish). Centro de Arte, Málaga 2006. ISBN 84-96159-40-X
 * Jens Schröter: Peter Zimmermann. Kunsthalle Erfurt, Erfurt 2001
 * Tom Holert: Peter Zimmermann. Flow. König, Cologne 2001. ISBN 3-88375-498-6
 * Peter Zimmermann: Skandal: Kunst. Springer, Vienna and New York 2000. ISBN 3-211-83418-4
 * Peter Zimmermann: Eigentlich könnte alles auch anders sein. König, Köln 1998. ISBN 3-88375-323-8

Secondary Literature

 * Harald Uhr:: "Painting versus. Plasma Flatscreen – A portrait by Harald Uhr", Artblog Cologne
 * Margrit Brehm: The Reflection of Surfaces. Die Reflexion der Oberflächen. La réflexion des surfaces. In: Peter Zimmermann. Epoxiology. Walther Konig, Cologne 2007, ISBN 3-86560-179-0
 * Margit Zuckriegl: Peter Zimmermann. Die Gedanken der Bilder. The thoughts of pictures. In: Vom Bild zum Bild. Metamorphose. Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Rupertinum. Salzburg 2005, S. 42–47
 * Ralf Christofori: Kopfsprung in den Signalfluß. In: FAZ, 30 August 2001
 * Hans-Jürgen August: Erregung kollektiven Lustgefühls. In: Wiener Zeitung, 1 December 2001
 * Astrid Wege: Peter Zimmermann. In: Art – Das Kunstmagazin Artis. December 1996
 * Franz Kotteder: Heimwerkers Alptraum. In: SZ 7 March 1996