German-born abstract artist Peter Zimmermann’s current exhibition is a fantastical mix of a traditional art exhibition and an experiential show.
The exhibition, open till June 19, 2016, at the Museum für Neue Kunst, is Zimmermann’s first solo show in his Black Forest home town of Freiburg, Germany.
Known for his colourful abstract ‘blob art’, the 60-year-old Zimmermann has created a unique, large walk-in art experience in the 1902 museum building that once housed a girls’ school.
The installation consists of several white-painted rooms where bright abstract artworks on the wall appear quite harmlessly traditional, but upon entering the spaces, the guest is confused by the highly reflective floors that not only seem to interact with the paintings, but also make the guests feel part of the art itself.
The entire installation takes up some 425 square meters (about 4,575 square feet) and each of the white-backgrounded paintings was newly created for this special exhibition.
According to the Museum, the artists is deploying digital filters and computer programs, and uses templates – such as photographs, film stills or diagrams – in unusual ways, transferring them onto canvas in several layers of transparent epoxy resin.
Peter Zimmermann has titled the installation ‘Freiburg School.’ This refers to the museum building’s past but it also reflects his musings on education and visual communication in today’s computerized and digitalized world. – Tuija Seipell.
