Peter Zizka (born 16 December 1961) is a German designer and conceptual artist.

Life

Zizka is the younger son of politician Walburga Zizka (

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

) and Cyril Zizka, of Czech descendant. Initially trained as an art restorer, Zizka studied graphics, design and visual communication at the

Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

in 1983. He also attended the

Städelschule The Städelschule, full name Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from around 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 ...

in Frankfurt and studied under

Bruce McLean Bruce McLean (born 1944) is a Scottish sculptor, performance artist and painter. McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at Saint Martin's School of Art, London, from 1963 to 1966. At Saint Martin ...

, among others. In 1989, together with Achim Heine and Michael Lenz, Zizka founded the design company Heine/Lenz/Zizka. In the early 1990s, Zizka and Olaf Rahlwes explored the interface between art and design with their ''MEMORY'' conceptual art exhibitions. He then created '' The Virtual Minefield'', a floor-based installation spanning art and design. Zizka won the gold award from the European

Art Directors Club The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award fo ...

for ''The Virtual Minefield.'' It was shown at the

Kunsthal The Kunsthal (; ) is an art space in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It opened in 1992. Overview The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beu ...

Rotterdam, the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

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 ...

and the Hygiene Museum Dresden among others. In 2008, Zizka won the design competition for the

Kiel Week The Kiel Week () or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is considered to be one of the largest sailing events globally, and also the largest summer festivals in Northern Europe, ...

corporate design, following the likes of

Wim Crouwel Willem Hendrik "Wim" Crouwel (; 21 November 1928 – 19 September 2019) was a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Early life and education Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the ...

(1998), Fons Hickmann (2002), and Klaus Hesse (2006). In 2010 he started an art project in Burundi about the weapons of the

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...

Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...

conflict. In 2011, he received the fellowship of the Deutsche Akademie Rom

Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo (), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rome, often referred to as the German Rome P ...

. Zizka writes about design for the Swiss

Bilanz ''Bilanz'' (, ''Balance'') is a biweekly business magazine published in Zürich, Switzerland, which has been in circulation since 1977. The magazine started its edition in Germany in 2014. History and profile ''Bilanz'' was established in 1977 ...

magazine and is a freelance curator for the Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt. Zizka works and lives in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

und

Curated exhibitions

2016 * »

Stefan Sagmeister Steve (born August 6, 1962) is an Austrian graphic designer, storyteller, and typographer based in New York City. In 1993, Sagmeister founded his company, Sagmeister Inc., to create designs for the music industry. He has designed album covers for ...

: The Happy Show«, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt. This exhibition was originally organized by the

Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum in Philadelphia. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated t ...

and curated by

Claudia Gould Claudia Gould is an art curator and former Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director of The Jewish Museum in New York City.

. * »New Everything! A Century of New Typography and New Graphic Design in Frankfurt am Main«, together with Prof. Dr. Klaus Klemp, Prof. em. Friedrich Friedl and Matthias Wagner K, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt.

Selected solo and group exhibitions

2016 * »Under Arms. Fire & Forget 2«, curated by Ellen Blumstein, Dr. Daniel Tyradellis und Matthias Wagner K, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt 2015 * »Secret Compartments«, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt * »Favourites. Favourite pieces from the private collections of Beckers and Landau«, Galerie Braubachstrasse9, Frankfurt 2013 * »Symbiosis - 1,5 Tonnen globale Verwicklung«, Kunsthalle E-werk, Freiburg * »For a mine-free world«,

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, Main Gallery, New York * »Open View«, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden 2012 * »Night of the Villa Massimo«,

Martin-Gropius-Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße ...

, Berlin * »Abwehr. Überlebensstrategien in Natur, Wirtschaft, Politik und Alltag«, Stiftung Charles und Agnes Vögele, Zürich-Pfäffikon 2011 * »Symbiosis – 1.5 Tons of Global Entanglement«, ZKM

Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe The ZKM , Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (until March 2016: ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology), a cultural institution, was founded in 1989 and, since 1997, is located in a former munitions factory in Karlsruhe, Germany. The ZKM (Germa ...

, Karlsruhe * »Festa del‘ estate«, German Academy Rome Villa Massimo, Rome 2009 * »War and Medicine«,

German Hygiene Museum The German Hygiene Museum () is a medical museum in Dresden, Germany. It conceives itself today as a "forum for science, culture and society". It is a popular venue for events and exhibitions, and is among the most visited museums in Dresden, wit ...

, Dresden 2005 * »De soldaat die nooit slaapt«,

, Rotterdam * »The virtual Minefield«, Stadthalle (Freiburg im Breisgau), Freiburg * »The virtual Minefield«,

Schauspiel Frankfurt The Schauspiel Frankfurt is the municipal theatre company for plays in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is part of Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. History In the late 1770s the theatre principal Abel Seyler was based in Frankfurt, and established ...

, Frankfurt * Lew Kopelew Forum, Cologne 2004 * »The virtual Minefield«,

Auswärtiges Amt The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-level ...

, Lichthof, Berlin 1997 * »Memory« with Olaf Rahlwes, Kunst Halle St. Gallen, St. Gallen Further exhibitions of the »Memory«-Group from 1985-1994 include Fisherman's Studios, London, Kunstraum Konstantin Adamopulos, Frankfurt, Galerie AK, Hans Sworowski, Frankfurt, Galerie Lukas & Hoffmann, Berlin, Galerie Single 74, Amsterdam, Galerie Vorsetzen, Hamburg und Galerie Schneider, Konstanz.

Works

* ''MEMORY 1-24'' * ''Der Frankfurter Bankstuhlgang'' (performance) * ''Bois de Boulogne'' (fotoinstallation) * ''The Virtual Minefield'' (installation) * ''IPRAY'' (2006) * ''Outliner'' (2008, installation) * ''Symbiosis/Burundi'' (2010/11, installation) constructed from weapons which have been rendered unusable
theater PAN.OPTIKUM about »symbiosis«

Bibliography

* ''Memory 30 – a book'', Walther König: Frankfurt * ROGUE, Konstantin Adamopoulos: MEMORY, a sign of intelligence * Page Designmagazin 10/95 a perfect triangle, Page Verlag * FrancoForte, Verlag: Schaden u. Schaden * Horizont 18/2002 ''colors of taste'' * Horizont 23/2002 ''Das Werkzeug als Auge sensibler Stars'' * Welt am Sonntag, 24. November 2002 ''Objektive Schönheit'' * TAZ, 2. Dezember 2004 ''Der falsche Tritt kann tödlich sein'' * Gestalte / Create – Design Medien Kunst, Hrsg. v. Bernd Kracke 2007,HFG of–main, Wir die Kommunikationannimateure * Hundert t-Variationen, editor Jan Teunen, Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz, * form 213, Hasta la Vista Baby!, Verlag Form * Padamm, Verlag otto Lembeck, die Zweiweltenoper, * ''Design Walk'', Psyrri, Greek Graphic Designers Association * Page Designmagzine 06/07 Wertvolles Dazwischen, Page Verlag * Form 219/2008 "Peter Zizkas Graphic blows" * Beef 03/2008 (interview) ''Designer geben den Takt vor'' ISSN 1866-1890 * Lookbook 2.0 2009 ''Simple, Multiple'' * ''Designing the Brand Experience'', * Revision 1/2009 "Design-lotto easy going" * Egokollektiv. Peter Zizka«, edited by Anna Duque y González and Matthias Wagner K, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln 2018, .

References

External links

Kunsthal Rotterdam

medico international anti landmine campaign

Workshop Vitra Design Museum

with

at the KISD
Projectpage of Symbiosis/Burundi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zizka, Peter German conceptual artists German graphic designers German poster artists Städelschule alumni Living people 1961 births Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main alumni