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) 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 in 1983. He also attended the Städelschule in Frankfurt and studied under Bruce McLean, among others.
In 1989, together with Achim Heine and Michael Lenz, Zizka founded the design company Heine/Lenz/Zizka. 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, Deutsche Welle about the virtual minefield virtual minefield a floor-based installation spanning art and design. Zizka won the gold award from the European Art Directors Club for The Virtual Minefield. It was shown at the Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Foreign Office in Berlin and the Hygiene Museum Dresden among others.
In 2008, Zizka won the design competition for the Kiel Week corporate design, Kiel Week 2008 following the likes of Wim Crouwel (1998), Fons Hickmann (2002), and Klaus Hesse (2006).
In 2010 he started an art project in Burundi about the weapons of the Hutu Tutsi conflict. In 2011, he received the fellowship of the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo.
Zizka writes about design for the Swiss Bilanz magazine swiss bilanz magazine contributor peter zizka and is a freelance curator for the Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt.
Zizka works and lives in Frankfurt am Main und Berlin.
Curated exhibitions
2016
»Stefan Sagmeister: The Happy Show«, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt. This exhibition was originally organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and curated by Claudia Gould. Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Happy Show »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. New Everything! Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, A Century of New Typography and New Graphic Design in Frankfurt am Main
Selected solo and group exhibitions 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.)
2004 The virtual Minefield, Auswärtiges Amt, Lichthof, Berlin
2005 Lew Kopelew Forum, Cologne De soldaat die nooit slaapt, Kunsthal, Rotterdam The virtual Minefield, Stadthalle (Freiburg im Breisgau), Freiburg The virtual Minefield, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Frankfurt
2009 War and Medicine, German Hygiene Museum, Dresden
2011 Festa del‘ estate, German Academy Rome Villa Massimo, Rome Symbiosis – 1.5 Tons of Global Entanglement, ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Symbiosis – 1.5 Tons of Global Entanglement
2012 Abwehr. Überlebensstrategien in Natur, Wirtschaft, Politik und Alltag, Stiftung Charles und Agnes Vögele, Zürich-Pfäffikon Night of the Villa Massimo, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin Villa Massimo, Night of the Villa Massimo,,
2013 For a mine-free world, United Nations, Main Gallery, New York Open View, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden Kunstverein Wiesbaden Open View Symbiosis - 1,5 Tonnen globale Verwicklung, Kunsthalle E-werk, Freiburg
2015 Favourites. Favourite pieces from the private collections of Beckers and Landau, Galerie Braubachstrasse9, Frankfurt Secret Compartments, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt
2016 Under Arms. Fire & Forget 2, curated by Ellen Blumstein, Dr. Daniel Tyradellis und Matthias Wagner K, Museum für angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt Under Arms. Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, Fire & Forget 2
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 Interview of Deutschen Designer Clubs with P.Zizka talk with Stefan Sagmeister at the KISD Projectpage of Symbiosis/Burundi