Peter Missing (born Peter Colangelo; November 26, 1953) is a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

artist, poet, musician, and activist who relocated to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1993. As of 2025, Missing is residing in

Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

History

Missing grew up in the Bronx during the 1950s and 1960s, as a middle child of three siblings. He's Italian and one-third Danish. His father was a postal worker who delivered to the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

. He was one of the organizers of the protest against the Tompkins Square Park curfew that led to the

Tompkins Square Park Riot The Tompkins Square Park riot occurred on August 6–7, 1988 in Tompkins Square Park, located in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. Groups of "drug pushers, homeless people and young peo ...

. His symbol, an upside down martini glass with three strikes crossed out, means "party's over". The symbol used to be spotted all over the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. It was often accompanied by anti-

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

, anti-police brutality, anti-corporations, and pro-environment slogans. The symbol was originally designed for a band Missing founded in 1980 called

Drunk Driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

and has grown to symbolize the decline of our planet and a warning to start something new; time for a change. He founded the influential underground industrial band

Missing Foundation Missing Foundation Is an industrial music and performance art project active in the late 1980s - present and led by Peter Missing. Their live shows were notorious for sparking civil disobedience (including the occasional riot) and causing seri ...

while living in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany in 1984 and imported it to the U.S. in 1985 with new members. The band has included about 20 members over its history. The name came from the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

police unit whose job it was to track down people who fled to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. At shows Missing would sometimes set himself on fire as part of the performance. The band released five albums with

Restless Records Restless Records was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute R ...

in L.A. including ''Your House Is Mine'' which was named Rock Album of the Week in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 1988. Missing has been painting for the past 30 years and has works in over 30 museums in the U.S. and Europe including

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

The Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a modern and contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. The institution was founde ...

, The Getty Institute, and the Stadt Museum in Berlin. Until October 2011, Missing had his gallery, ''Conto Gallery'', in

Kunsthaus Tacheles The Kunsthaus Tacheles (English: ''Art House Tacheles'') was an art center in Berlin, Germany, a large () building and sculpture park on Oranienburger Straße, in the sub-neighborhood of Spandauer Vorstadt in the Mitte district. Huge, colorfu ...

in Berlin. In 2012, Missing opened a new art space called ''Transmission Gallery'' in Copenhagen, Denmark. Missing worked many years as a film set designer in Hamburg and taught art to troubled youth in different German schools. Missing now resides in Denver, Colorado, where his gallery, ''Gallery Late Realism'', is open by appointment. Besides the gallery and creative work, including music performances, Missing runs creative artwork classes to the local kids in the area at a nearby youth center / artwork / music : Peter Missing Instagram and Facebook 2021 / In 2018 The full collection of Missing Foundation albums was released on bandcamp.com / new release ''Hard Surface'' / MissingFoundation 2 bandcamp.com 2021

Discography

Solo

* ''Electronic Collection 1993-2010'' (2010)

With Drunk Driving

* ''Drunk Driving'' (1983)

With Missing Foundation

* ''Frontline 2185'' (with

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art proje ...

, 1984) * '' The 20th Anniversary of the Summer of Love 1987-1967'' (with various, 1987) * ''Missing Foundation'' (1987) * ''Your House Is Mine 1933'' (1988) * ''Humanity Demise'' (1989) * ''Song and Legend'' (with various, 1989) * ''Ignore the White Culture'' (1990) * ''Go into Exile'' (1992) * ''Assault on Your Life'' (1992) * ''Live in Europe 1992'' (1992) * ''Just Another Hit'' (1993) * ''State of the Union 2.001'' (with various, 2001) * ''Live in La Plaza'' (2016) * ''Nature is Watching You'' (2018) * ''World in Chains'' (2019) * ''Hard Surface'' (2021)

With Missing Seven Hazard

* ''Global Warning'' (Single, 2007) * ''Rocket the U.S.'' (2008) * ''Nature Revolt Remix'' (2009) * ''War of the Minds'' (2010) * ''Real Freedom'' (2018)

Peter Missing solo

* ''Rotation'' (1997) * ''Insel 138'' (1998) * ''Cracked Ocean'' (1998) * ''Low Denominator'' (1999) * ''Redirect'' (2021) * ''river of creative forms'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Website

Old Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missing, Peter American male musicians German male musicians 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century American male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century American male artists 1953 births Living people Missing Foundation members