Peter Piller (1968) - Regoinales Leuchten

Peter Piller (1968), Regionales Leuchten, Archiv Peter Piller, 2005.

10 Postcards in a small folder from the Peter Piller Archive, each 11 x 15 cm, Edition Griffelkunst. Signed.

Peter Piller (born January 5, 1968 in Fritzlar, Germany) is an internationally established German artist, photographer and conceptual image archivist, who lives and works in Hamburg. Piller became known through his archive Peter Piller, an extensive collection of over 7,000 found images from newspapers, aerial photo archives, historic postcards and the Internet, which he carefully organizes thematically and compiles into series. This archival work forms the core of his artistic practice and is characterized by unusual image associations, subtle irony and a systematic engagement with visual mass communication.

Piller studied Fine Art, Art Education, German Studies and Geography at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (Diploma 2000) and began building image archives already during his studies. His works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions in major museums and galleries, including the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam and international exhibition sites in New York and Basel.

Since 2006 Piller has taught as a professor of photography in the field of contemporary art at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig and since 2018 has headed the class of Free Art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He has received several art prizes and serves as a juror for the Vonovia Award for Photography.

Piller’s work crosses traditional boundaries between photography, archiving and conceptual art and critically reflects on the role of images in everyday culture.