Rice University to host exhibit by Peter Brötzmann

Graphic designs by internationally acclaimed German artist and musician Peter Brötzmann will be on display at Rice University Oct. 8-Nov. 14. The exhibit, titled “Peter Brötzmann Graphic: Design Work 1958-2013,” will be in the Rice Media Center’s Visual and Dramatic Arts Main Gallery.

The exhibit, titled "Peter Brötzmann Graphic: Design Work 1958-2013," will be in the Rice Media Center's Visual and Dramatic Arts Main Gallery.

The opening reception will take place at the Rice Media Center immediately following a solo concert by Brötzmann, at 8 p.m. Oct. 8 at Rice’s James Turrell “Twilight Epiphany” Skyspace.

Brötzmann was trained as a visual artist in his hometown of Wuppertal, Germany, in the late 1950s, and his early musical career as a saxophonist and clarinetist was paralleled by his first art exhibitions in Holland and Germany. Brötzmann assisted Nam June Paik on “Exposition of Music-Electronic Television,” Paik’s first installation at Galerie Parnass in 1963, and he participated in Fluxus events in the mid-1960s.

Since that time, along with large-scale oil paintings and delicately lyrical watercolors, Brötzmann has amassed an oeuvre of small constructions. He often uses found or fabricated wooden boxes as both support and frame, sometimes integrating metal elements including cans, can lids and rusted industrial detritus. In recent years, retrospectives of Brötzmann’s artwork have been displayed in Sweden and Germany.

The exhibit was curated by Chicago gallerist, curator and music historian John Corbett.

The Rice Media Center’s Main Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. It is closed Saturdays and Sundays.

For more information about the exhibit and Rice’s Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts, visit http://arts.rice.edu.

For more information about Brötzmann’s concert, see https://news2.rice.edu/2013/09/26/rice-university-to-host-concert-series-by-peter-brotzmann-and-keiji-haino-oct-7-9/.