Peter Pakesch (born 1955 in Graz, Styria) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n exhibition curator, museum director and foundation director of the

Maria Lassnig Maria Lassnig (8 September 1919 – 6 May 2014) was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness".Attias, Lauri''Maria Lassnig'', ''Frieze'', May 1996. She was the first female artist to win the Grand ...

Foundation.

Life and Work

Peter Pakesch was born to concert pianist Gertrude Kaan (1924-2009) and Dr. Erich Pakesch (1917-1979) on the 16th of July as the second of three children. Pakesch attended the Akademisches Gymnasium in Graz from 1965-1973 where he completed his secondary education. He then begun studying architecture at the

Graz University of Technology Graz University of Technology (german: link=no, Technische Universität Graz, short ''TU Graz'') is one of five universities in Styria, Austria. It was founded in 1811 by Archduke John of Austria and is the oldest science and technology research ...

, as well as practicing as an Artist from an early age. He made his first experiences as a curator at the Forum Stadtpark from 1976 to 1979, of which he had been a member since 1970. After some projects with Steirischer Herbst and the Organisation of several performances (

The Kipper Kids The Kipper Kids were a duo composed of Martin Rochus Sebastian von Haselberg (born 20 January 1949) and Brian Routh (born 9 March 1948) two artists known for the extreme and often comedic performance art they made together in the 1970s and after. ...

and Reindeer Werk) with the focus on non-verbal theatre. In 1978 Pakesch organized the exhibition ''Kunst im Schaufenster'' in collaboration with

Peter Weibel Peter Weibel (; born 5 March 1944 in Odessa, USSR) is an internationally known Austrian post-conceptual artist, curator and new media theoretician. He started out in 1964 as a visual poet but soon jumped from the page to the screen within the sen ...

. 1980 he would then move to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for a semester abroad in the context of his studies. After his return to Austria in 1981, Pakesch decided to open his own Gallery in Vienna. In this gallery he showed artists such as

John Baldessari John Anthony Baldessari (June 17, 1931 – January 2, 2020) was an American conceptual artist known for his work featuring found photography and appropriated images. He lived and worked in Santa Monica and Venice, California. Initially a painter, ...

Herbert Brandl Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

, Ilya Kabakow, Mike Kelly,

Martin Kippenberger Martin Kippenberger (25 February 1953 – 7 March 1997) was a German artist known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media, superfiction as well as his provocative, jocular and hard-drinking public persona. Kippenbe ...

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...

Albert Oehlen Albert Oehlen (born 17 September 1954) is a German artist. He lives and works in Bühler, Switzerland and Segovia, Spain.

Franz West Franz West (16 February 1947 – 25 July 2012) was an Austrian artist. He is best known for his unconventional objects and sculptures, installations and furniture work which often require an involvement of the audience. Early life and e ...

and

Heimo Zobernig Heimo Zobernig (born 1958) is an Austrian artist who works in a variety of media from painting and sculpture to site specific installation and design. Education Zobernig attended the Academy of Fine Arts (Akademie der bildenden Künste), Vienna ...

. In 1986 Pakesch and the Austrian cultural politician Helmut Strobl founded the Grazer Kunstverein, which he also led as the artistic director until 1988. During this time he also published the interdisciplinary magazine ''Durch.'' In collaboration with Hubert Klocker, Pakesch organized the project ''Protect Me From What I Want'', a cooperation between

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, ...

and

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

for the

Vienna Festival __NOTOC__ The Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival) is a cultural festival in Vienna that takes place every year for five or six weeks in May and June. The Wiener Festwochen was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the four Allie ...

. In 1990 Pakesch and Johannes Schlebrügge founded the Magazine ''Fama & Fortune Bulletin'' which is published at irregular intervals. In 2015 the

Vienna Museum The Vienna Museum (german: Wien Museum or ''Museen der Stadt Wien'') is a group of museums in Vienna consisting of the museums of the history of the city. In addition to the main building in Karlsplatz and the Hermesvilla, the group includes nume ...

would do an exhibition about this time titled ''Ballgasse 6, Galerie pakesch und die Kunstszene der 80er''. In 1993 Pakesch closed his Gallery in Vienna. Over his 12 years as a Galerist he managed to push Austrian artists such as Franz West and Heimo Zobernig to international fame. In the followed years Pakesch worked as a freelancing curator for the

National Gallery in Prague The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...

. 1996 he took over as the Director of the

Kunsthalle Basel Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre and is located next to the city's ...

, where he gave many young artists such as

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...

Michel Majerus Michel Majerus (June 9, 1967 – November 6, 2002) was a Luxembourgish artist who combined painting with digital media in his work. He lived and worked in Berlin until his untimely death in a plane crash in November 2002. His work was featured i ...

and

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their first Institutional Exhibitions. During his time in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Pakesch also pushed for continuous renovations of the Museum's buildings and he also reorganised the local annual exhibition to an entirely neu format, which under the new name 'Regionale' has stayed an important exhibition between

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

and Basel. Between 1996 and 1998 Pakesch traveled the post-communist world as a member of the Soros International Advisory Board. 1997 he married Actress and Filmproducer Michaela Leutzendorff (1957) and in March 1998 is daughter Josepha Pakesch was born. In 2003 Pakesch left Basel and took over as the director and artistic director of the

Universalmuseum Joanneum The Universalmuseum Joanneum is a multidisciplinary museum with buildings in several locations in the province of Styria, Austria. It has galleries and collections in many subject areas including archaeology, geology, paleontology, mineralogy, ...

together with Wolfgang Muchitsch who served as the Executive Director. During his time at the

Kunsthaus Graz The Kunsthaus Graz, Grazer Kunsthaus, or Graz Art Museum was built as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2003 and has since become an architectural landmark in Graz, Austria. Its exhibition program specializes in contemporar ...

specifically, Pakesch curated some important exhibitions including ''Modell

'' (2007), ''

Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A *Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer *Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 1960) ...

- Painting'' and ''Screening Real Conner

Lockhart Lockhart may refer to: *Lockhart (surname) Places Australia *Lockhart, New South Wales *Lockhart River, Queensland *Lockhart River, Western Australia United States *Lockhart, Alabama *Lockhart, Florida *Lockhart, Minnesota *Lockhart, Sout ...

'' (2009), ''Measuring the World'' (2011) and ''

'' (2013). Between 2003 and 2008 Pakesch sat on the board of the

. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees for the IBA Basel 2020. In September 2015 Pakesch pulled out of his contract with the

due to personal reasons. Since then he has been serving as the chairman of the Maria Lassning Foundation. In this function he curated an exhibition about Maria Lassning in collaboration with

Paul Schimmel (curator) Paul Schimmel (born 1954) is an American curator of contemporary art based in Los Angeles. Schimmel served as the chief curator of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), from 1990 until 2012, where he organized numerous exhibitions. ...

for

Hauser & Wirth Hauser & Wirth is a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery. History Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth, and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by co-president Marc Payot. In 2020, Ewan Venters was ap ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Most recently Pakesch curated '' Mike Kelley. God's Oasis'' at

in Zurich.

Writing

* (Hrsg.): ''Warhol Wool Newman. Painting Real / Screening Real. Conner Lockhart Warhol'' Walther König, Cologne 2009, . * (Hrsg.): ''Leben? /Life? Biomorphe Formen in der Skulptur / Biomorphic Forms in Sculptures.'' Walther König, Cologne 2009, . * (Hrsg.): ''2003-2008 Kunsthaus Graz.'' Walther König, Cologne 2008, . * (Hrsg.): ''Cerith Wyn Evans: bubble peddler'', Buchhandlung König, Cologne 2007, . * mit Guido Magnaguagno: ''Bewegliche Teile. Formen des Kinetischen''. Cologne: Walther König, 2005 * ''Michel Majerus. Installationen 1992–2002.'' Walther König, Cologne 2005 . * ''Abbild, recent portraiture and depiction.'' Springer, Vienna 2002, .

External links

Maria Lassnig Stiftung

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakesch, Peter Living people 1955 births Austrian art curators Artistic directors