Peter Weibel, media art pioneer and ZKM curator, dies at 78
Peter Weibel, a well-known artist, curator, and theorist who championed media art, has died at 78. He was born in Odessa, Ukraine, in 1944 and studied cinematography in Paris before moving on to medicine and mathematics in Vienna. Throughout the 1960s, he explored film, language, and semiotics, working alongside the Vienna Actionists. In 1989, he helped launch the Institute of New Media at Frankfurt's Städelschule. He curated the influential 1999 exhibition Net_Condition at ZKM in Karlsruhe, featuring 66 artists like JODI and Alexei Shulgin. Weibel had been directing ZKM since 1999, enhancing its prominence in media arts. His retrospective opened on February 3, showcasing 70 pieces, where he stated, "media are extensions of all sensory organs."
Key facts
- Peter Weibel died at age 78.
- Born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1944.
- Studied cinematography in Paris, then medicine and mathematics in Vienna.
- Co-founded Institute of New Media at Städelschule in Frankfurt in 1989.
- Curated Net_Condition at ZKM in 1999, first large-scale new media exhibition with 66 artists.
- Co-curated Iconoclash with Bruno Latour and Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2002.
- Directed ZKM since 1999, making it a leader in media arts.
- Retrospective Peter Weibel: Art as an act of cognition opened on 3 February.
Entities
Artists
- Peter Weibel
- JODI
- Alexei Shulgin
- Markus Hemmer
- Bruno Latour
- Hans Ulrich Obrist
Institutions
- ZKM Center for Art and Media
- Städelschule
- Institute of New Media
- Korea Times
Locations
- Odessa
- Ukraine
- Paris
- France
- Vienna
- Austria
- Frankfurt
- Germany
- Karlsruhe