Hermann Pitz

Some recent solo exhibitions
Kunstverein Aichach, 2008, 'Lichterscheinung'
Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin 2005
Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen 2003, 'Licht aus Bozen – Werkzeug aus Düsseldorf'
Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin 2000, 'Kopie & Original'

Some recent group exhibitions
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla 2009, 'máquinas de mirar'
Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, 2008, 'Blickmaschinen oder wie Bilder entstehen'
Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, 2005, 'Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht'
MUHKA, Antwerp 2003, 'Collectiepresentatie III –lente 2003'

Selected publications
Florian Matzner (ed.), Public art: a reader, Ostfildern Ruit: Hatje Cantz 2004
Leonhard Emmerling (ed.), Hermann Pitz: Projektor 2000, Krefeld: Krefelder Kunstmuseen 2001

Selected public and corporate collections
MUHKA, Antwerp, BE • Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, DE • Hamburger Kunsthalle, DE • FRAC Centre, Orléans, FR

The oeuvre of Hermann Pitz comprises sculpture, photography, model-building, installations and printed matter. His works are often related to each other: an older piece finds echoes in a new work that, in turn, refers to a work that has not yet been realized. In 1980 the artist founded 'Büro Berlin' in West-Berlin together with Raimund Kummer and Fritz Rahmann. From 1980 to 1983 this artist collective organized various exhibitions at temporary locations where, working with other artists, they realized temporary installations. In the mid-1980s, Pitz's work attained a definitive form. After a rather nomadic existence, the artist settled in Düsseldorf in 1988. The spaces that he rents, furnishes, also gallery or museum spaces he shows in are documented. His meetings and appointments are registered in a number of ways. When the photo of one space is hung on the wall of a different one, Pitz takes another photo. In this way, his work acts as a container of memories. It evolves in the same way as a family tree: life experience, travel experience, exhibitions and artworks are recycled and inspire new presentations and installations. He reinterprets his life and work. Cameras and lenses play a pivotal role in this; the camera can also become a sculpture. Mirrors and lenses manipulate perceptions. Something straight becomes crooked, something tiny becomes gargantuan. Here, the lens symbolizes distortion. The sculptures also refer to this: gigantic drops of water in epoxy act as lenses reflecting the space.

Hermann Pitz has been advisor at the Rijksakademie since the reorganization in the 1980s.
Boardmember Endowment Foundation.