peter zimmermann floods freiburg museum with glossy pools of resin

peter zimmermann floods freiburg museum with glossy pools of resin
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016

peter zimmermann: freiburg school
museum für neue kunst, germany
now through june 19, 2016

within the museum für neue kunst in freiburg, artist peter zimmermann has radically transformed the gallery rooms into a monumental and immersive walk-in work. for ‘freiburg school‘, the museum’s floor becomes a canvas for colorful and glossy pools of resin that cover nearly 425 square meters, weaving through the rooms as abstract, fluid shapes. visitors are invited to participate and activate the work by simply sitting, standing or walking through the vast and dreamy expanse. the spacial relationship between the epoxy floor piece and a new series of oil paintings — shown for the first time in this grouping — forms the centerpiece of the show in the artist’s hometown.

the monumental installation covers the floor at the museum für neue kunst in freiburg
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016

‘freiburg school’ not only echos the museum’s previous incarnation as a girls’ school, but also draws on the artist’s hesitation towards common means of education and communication — such as encyclopedias and travel guides. he reflects upon the societal shift from a centrally-organized dissemination of knowledge to crowdsourcing, and from the encyclopedia to wikipedia and beyond. within this in mind, the shiny surface of the paintings — and their multi-layered composition — symbolizes computer-based motifs, such as browser tabs, screen icons and windows. in this engagement with the influence of digital media on current painting, ‘freiburg school’ presents zimmermann’s complex, painterly and colorful cosmos.

the rooms have been radically transformed into an immersive walk-in work
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016

the museum’s floor becomes a canvas for colorful and glossy pools of resin
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016

the resin painting weaves through the museum’s rooms as abstract, fluid shapes
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016

a relationship is formed between the epoxy floor piece and a new series of oil paintings
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016

visitors are invited to participate and activate the work by simply sitting, standing or walking
photo by bernhard strauss, © VG bild-kunst, bonn 2016