Peter Downsbrough

Biography

The oeuvre of the American conceptual artist Peter Downsbrough comprises works consisting of lines, letters, cuts, and the spaces in between, which relate to the architectural space and call into question the linearity of both space and language. For the last exhibition, the Brussels based artist realized a large black wall painting in situ for the first time, which communicates with a two-part metal object titled AND as well as a floor piece of steel letters.On view are also collages and works on paper, such as the series Newspaper (1983), which has never been shown in Germany before.

For Newspaper Downsbrough modified front pages of the daily papers The New York Times and Le Figaro by covering them with black spray paint. By laying cut out letters on the paper before, the pages are given a completely altered character with letter combinations – sometimes playfully arranged, sometimes evenly aligned – creating a new work quality reminiscent of collages. The reality of everyday life, represented by the frontpage news, is covered by a uniform blackness, enriched with the abstraction of the individual letters, which can be seen as elements of broken-down language that dissolve world news into its components. 

The notion of time is especially important here because like other artists of those decades Downsbrough explores the existence of the individual. And thus the newspaper as metaphor of positioning human beings in space and time can also be found in the work of other pioneers of Minimal Art in the 1970s and ‘80s, as for example On Kawara. The series Newspaper fits in seamlessly with Downsbrough’s oeuvre, which also investigates language as a medium of art in sculpture, drawing, and photography. For his site-specific works, too, he uses letters forming conjunctions, prepositions, verbs and/or nouns and applies them to the walls, floors and/or ceilings. Born in New Jersey in 1940, Peter Downsbrough has since the late 1960s been among the leading artists whose work oscillates between Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and visual poetry and visualizes a rich form language.

Biography

Born 1940 in New Jersey, USA.
Died 2024 in Brussels, Belgium.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023

Peter Downsbrough, Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Peter Downsbrough, Le lieu et l´espace d´une oeuvre, GDM, Paris France

2022-2023
Peter Downsbrough, MAMCO Genève, Geneva, Switzerland

2021 – 2022

Peter Downsbrough. Two Pipes 1970-2022, Cologne, Skulpturenpark Köln, Kunst-Station St. Peter, Schlosspark Stammheim, Cologne, Germany

2021

Peter Downsbrough, Kunsthalle Kunstverein Bremerhaven e. V., Bremerhaven, Germany

Peter Downsbrough, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany

2020

Peter Downsbrough, Kunstraum Lakeside, Klagenfurt, Austria

Peter Downsbrough, Facade de L’Ecole Nouvelle, St Gilles, Brussels, Belgium

2019

One Wall, One Work: Peter Downsbrough: Krakow Witkin Gallery, Newbury Street, Boston, MA, USA

Peter Downsbrough. OVERLAP/S, Le Botanique, Brussels, Belgium

Peter Downsbrough, Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris, France

Peter Downsbrough, Notations, àngels barcelona ,Barcelona, Spain

2018

Peter Downsbrough / John Cornu, Attic, Brussels, Belgium

Peter Downsbrough, Association interface, Dijon, France

2017

Peter Downsbrough, Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris, France

Peter Downsbrough, ETE 78, Brussels, Belgium

2015

Peter Downsbrough. Centre de Livres d’Artiste, Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, France

Peter Downsbrough. Another Space. Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany

Peter Downsbrough. UND, Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin, Germany

Peter Downsbrough. TIME, Kunstsaele, Berlin, Germany

Peter Downsbrough FILMS 2003 – 2012, LG London, London, UK

Peter Downsbrough. Photographs, Àngles Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

2014

Peter Downsbrough, Musée régional d’art contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon à Sérignan, Sérignan, France

2013

Peter Downsbrough: The Book(s) 1968-2013 / curated by Moritz Küng, Fabra i Coats, Centre d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain

The PS1 – Special Project (1980) And Other Works, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany

2012

Peter Downsbrough, Laure Genillard, London, UK

2011

Peter Downsbrough, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany

Platform3, Munich, Germany

Y8, Hamburg, Germany (curated by Marc Glöde)

The Book(s), deSingel, international arts campus, Antwerp, Belgium (curated by Moritz Küng)

Centre Culturel Jacques Franck, St.Gilles, Brussels, Belgium

2010

Pôle édition, École nationale supérieure d’art, Dijon, France

La BF15, Espace d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris, France

2009

Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Galerie Thermal, École nationale supérieure d’art, Nancy, France

La Verrière Hermès, Brussels, Belgium

Five Films and Two Books, Galerie Erna Hécey, Brussels, Belgium

Galerie Ho, Histoire de l’oeil, Marseille, France

Figge von Rosen Galerie, Cologne, Germany

The Published Books, Specific Object, New York, USA

Le Cabinet du livre d’artiste, Université Rennes, Rennes, France

2 Peter Downsbrough / Artists and Photographs, Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

2008

Showcase Alfred Vandaele, Drongen, Belgium

Dead Center / Marginal Notes, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, USA (with Jeanne Silverthorne)

Galerie Erna Hécey, Brussels, Belgium

Àngels, Barcelona, Spain

2007

Galerie de Multiples, Paris, France

Centre d’art contemporain la Synagogue de Delme, France

Galerie Erna Hécey, Brussels, Belgium

2006

White-Out Studio, Knokke, Belgium

Intérieur, Lille, France

SMAK, Stedelijk Museum voor aktuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium

871 Fine Arts, San Francisco, California, USA

2004

Peter Downsbrough. POSITION, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódz, Poland

Galerie cent8, Paris, France

FRAC—Fonds régional d’art contemporain, Bourgogne, Dijon, France

Films, videos, editions, 1980–2004, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

2003

Galerie Evelyne Canus, Basel, Switzerland

Peter Downsbrough. POSITION, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium (curated by Marie-Thérèse Champesme)

Argos, Brussels, Belgium

Peter Downsbrough. POSITION, Espace de l’art concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France

2002

Épreuve d’artiste, Lille, France

Unrealized Projects, Peter Downsbrough, cent8, Paris, France (with Laurent Parriente)

Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels

L’Aquarium, École des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes

2001

La Première Rue, Briey en Fôret, France

Manfred Baumgartner Gallery, New York, USA (with Marjorie Welish)

2000

Galerie Martine et Thibault de la Châtre, Paris, France

Lycée Européen Montebello, Lille, France

Art Connexion, Lille, France

Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury, UK

École des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes, France

1999

Sint Lukasgalerij, Brussels, Belgium

La Criée, Rennes, France (with Cécile Bart)

Stéphane Ackermann Contemporary Art, Luxembourg

Vitrines du hall, École des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes

Modèles 1983–1998, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

1998

Maison Levanneur, Centre national de l’estampe et de l’art imprimé, Chatou, France

Espace d’art contemporain Agi Schöningh, Demigny, France

La Box, École nationale des Beaux-Arts, Bourges, France

Galerij Annie Gentils, Antwerp, Belgium

Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim, Neuenhaus, Germany

1997

Angle art contemporain, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, France

Galerie Walzinger, Saarlouis, Germany

Galerie Martine et Thibault de la Châtre, Paris, France

Dehors-Dedans, EPSM Lille, France

Métropole Centre régional de la photographie, Douchy-les-Mines. France

1996

Densities, Galerij S65, Aalst, Belgium (in collaboration with Christian Kieckens)

Pavillon de Bercy, Paris, France

École des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes, France

1995

École des Beaux-Arts, Quimper, France

Galerie Lydie Rekow, Crest, France

École des Beaux-Arts, Valence, France

Galerie Épreuve d’artiste, Lille, France

Galerie Rupert Walser, Munich, Germany

One Five, Brussels, Belgium

1994

Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland

Le Channel, Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste, Calais, France

Multiples, Les Entrepôts Laydet, Paris, France

Book Art Museum, Łódź, Poland

Tropismes Libraires, Brussels, Belgium

Architectural Gallery, Moscow, Russia

1993

Fondation pour l’architecture, Brussels, Belgium

Books—Bücher, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany

École nationale des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, France

1992

Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, France

L’Usine, Dijon, France

Photographs, The Archives, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Maquettes, The Archives, Rotterdam, Netherlands

1991

Tilman, Fesler & Coufo, Brussels, Belgium

Zeger Reijers Galerie, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Galerie Rupert Walser, Munich, Germany

Dům Umění Města Brna, Brno, Czechia

Open Column, Glyptothek, Munich, Germany

1990

Galerie Sylvana Lorenz, Paris, France

Musée de la photographie, Charleroi, Belgium

(within the context of the Quatrième Triennale Internationale de la photographie)

Livres / Books, Bibliothèque Municipale, Rennes, France

Tilman, Fesler & Coufo, Brussels, Belgium

Zeger Reijers Galerie, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Galerie Vega, Plainevaux, Belgium

1989

Tilman, Fesler & Coufo, Brussels, Belgium

Ars Musica Festival, Radiogebouw / Maison de la Radio, Brussels, Belgium

Musée Saint Pierre d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg, Germany

Complete Bookworks, Archive Space (ASPC), Antwerp, Belgium

1988

Galerie De Lege Ruimte, Bruges, Belgium

Julian Pretto Gallery, New York, USA

1987

Galerie Foksal, Warsaw, Poland

Galerie Wschodnia, Łódź, Poland

Galerie Rupert Walser, Munich, Germany

The White Room, White Columns, New York, USA

1986

Le Consortium, Dijon, France (with Robert Barry)

PWSSP State School of Fine Arts, Łódź, Poland

1985

Galerie L’A, Liège, Belgium

1983

Au fond de la cour à droite, Chagny, France

Maison de la Culture, Nevers Tendance Bis, Limoges

Gewad, Ghent, Belgium

De Fabriek, Eindhoven, Netherlands

1982

Consultation Point (Network), Łódź, Poland

Bureau de la Poésie (Network), Warsaw, Poland

Project De Gentenaar / Studio Skoop / Radio Toestel, Ghent, Belgium

Gallery A, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1981

Galerie Contretype, Brussels, Belgium

Vereniging voor het Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent, Belgium

Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Galerie Eric Fabre, Paris, France

Galerij Kiliaan, Antwerp, Belgium

1980

Librairie Post-Scriptum, Brussels Zona, Florence, Italy

Modern Art Gallerie, Vienna, Austria

Galleria Pellegrino, Bologna, Italy

Le Coin du Miroir, Dijon, France

Agora Foundation, Maastricht, Netherlands

Vitrine, Paris Un travail . . . , 11, rue Clavel, Paris, France (curated by René Denizot)

PS1 Special Projects, Long Island City, New York, USA

The Dice, Spectacolor Board, Times Square, New York, USA

Gallery A, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1979

Printed Matter, New York, USA

1 University Place, New York, USA

1978

Pool, Fine Arts Center, C. W. Post College, Greenvale, New York, USA

1977

Galerie Maier-Hahn, Düsseldorf, Germany

Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Eight Books by Peter Downsbrough, Centre for Experimental Art and Communication, Toronto, Canada

Hal Bromm Gallery, New York, USA

Franklin Furnace, New York, USA

1976

Salle Simon I. Patiño, Cité Universitaire, Geneva, Switzerland

1975

Wide White Space, Antwerp, Belgium

Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium

Project Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Galerie 32, Paris, France

Elsa von Honolulu Loringhoven, Ghent, Belgium

1974

Galerie Toselli, Milan, Italy

Galerie 19, Paris, France

Galerie Delta, Brussels, Belgium

1973

Jack Wendler Gallery, London, UK

La Salita, Rome , Italy

Galerie 8, Paris, France

1972

Windham College, Putney, Vermont, USA

1971

112 Greene Street, New York, USA

1970

Two Pipes, Cornish, New Hampshire, USA

1963

Sun Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA

1961

Area, New York, USA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

After Mallarmé Part 1: the page…the place…, Large Glass Gallery, London, UK

2023
Boiler Room with Société: The Hoarders, Galeria Jaqueline Martins, Brussels, Belgium

Lines in Four Directions over 450 Years, Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

2022 – 2023

Outdoor Sculptures, Foundation CAB Saint-Paul-De-Vence, France

2022

Poetry in 3D. Text Sculptures and Poem objects since 1960, Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Leipzig, Germany

The Walls ,Centre National de l’Estampe et de l’Art imprimé ,Chatou, Paris, France

Skulpturale Poesie, Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany

2021

The Belgian Connection, Galerie Blanche dans la Cité Radieuse du Corbusier, Briey, France

New York: The Eighties; Part Two, Le Consortium, Dijon, France

das wort steht im raum – sculptural poetry, Weserburg, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany

2020

BOOKS. An exhibition of books about art and art about books, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany

Group Exhibition, Centre National de l’Estampe et de l’Art imprimé, Chatou, Paris, France

2019

Sampler #3. Anti-books ,MACBA, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain

2018

Latitudes, Krakow Witkin Gallery, Newbury Street, Boston, MA, USA

2017

The City, My Studio / The City, My Life, Kathmandu Triennale 2017, Nepal

Variable Dimensions: Artists and Architecture, Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal

2016

This Outsideness, Galerie Art et Essai, Rennes, France

Pavilion Intervention, Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain

Drawing Dialogues: The Sol LeWitt Collection, Drawing Center, New York, USA

Between the Ticks of the Watch, The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA

2015

A Line is a Line is a Line. Museumcultuur Strombeek /Gent CCStrombeek, Strombeek-Bever, Belgium

The Exhibition of a Film. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

In/visible, Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Eupen, Belgium

A Set of Lines, A Stack of Paper, KARST, Plymouth, UK

Tabs – Temporary Artist Book Shop, LAGE EGAL – Raum für aktuelle Kunst, Berlin, Germany

Un regard sur la collection d’Agnès B., Musee LAM, Villeneuve de l’Ascq, France

2014

Sites of Reason: A Selection of Recent Acquisitions, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Was Modelle können – Eine kleine Geschichte des Architekturmodells in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen, Germany

1+1+1 =1080, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, Belgium

2013

Entre Deux, Musée Régional d’art contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon, Sérignan, France

Four Houses, Some Buildings and Other Spaces, 80 WSE Galleries, Steinhardt School, NYU, New York, USA

2012

Drop me a line, Laure Genillard, London, UK

Le Miroir et les Chemins, Museum of Contemporary Arts of the Federation Wallonie-Brussels, Hornu, Belgium

2011

The Fifth Column, Secession, Vienna, Austria

Peter Downsbrough, Àngels, Barcelona, Spain

In Other Words, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College, Cork, Ireland

CUT, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany

Morphologies, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, USA

Construction in Process, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland

You are here, L’Escaut, Brussels, Belgium

Mr. Memory, Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris, France

Limites Multiles, L’Orangerie, Bastogne, Belgium

La Tabacalera – Futuro Centro Nacional de Artes Visuales, Madrid, Les Rencontres Internationales Paris – Berlin – Madrid, Madrid, Spain

2010

Au Coeur des villes, Collection FRAC Lorraine, Etain, France

In the Face of Spatial Grandeur, Circuit, Centre d’art contemporain, Lausanne, Switzerland

Landscape: Landscape?, Àngels, Barcelona, Spain

Vous êtes ici, exhibition in collaboration with the Université du littoral Côte d’Opale—Master 2, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dunkirk, France Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism; First Exhibition of the Frac Collections in the United States, Institute of Visual Arts (Inova), Milwaukee; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA

Vinyl: Disques et pochettes d’artistes; Collection Guy Schraenen, La Maison Rouge, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, France

Guía Secreta de La Rambla, La Virreina, Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona, Spain

Entre tu y yo—Between You and Me, La Tabacalera—Futuro Centro Nacional de Artes Visuales, Les Rencontres Internationales Paris—Berlin—Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Less Is More: Pictures, Objects, Concepts from the Collection and the Archives of Herman and Nicole Daled 1966–1978, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany

LOOP Festival, Àngels, Barcelona, Spain

Espai 2 Atlas, cartes et plans. Topographies, toponymes, territoires, Centre des livres d’artistes, Saint-Yrieix-la-Parche, France

Some Cities and Modèles modèles 2, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

Measuring Potentials, Potsdamer Strasse 88, Berlin, Germany

Ecce Homo Ludens. Le jeu comme art et comme mode de vie, Musée régional d’art contemporain Languedoc – Roussillon – Sérignan, France

Manières noires, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Mons, Belgium

Art, Architecture, Design, Galerie Georges Verney-Carron, Lyon, France

The Annual AIDS Benefit Exhibition: Everything but Paper Prayers, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Manières noires, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Mons, Belgium

Cities under the Gaze, ‘Video Abierto’, Murcia, Spain

Walking the Hinterland, Open Archive #2, Argos, centre for art and media, Brussels, Belgium

Les Rencontres Internationales, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Strategien gegen Architektur – Constructions, Spaces and Sites as Elements in Flux Open Archive#2, Argos, centre for art and media, Brussels, Belgium

Multiple / Readings, Antwerpse Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience, Antwerp, Belgium

Morphologies: Tara Donovan, Peter Downsbrough, Charles LeDray, Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Bill Thompson, Ursula von Ryndingsvard, and Richard Serra, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Construction in Process, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland

You Are Here, L’Escaut, Brussels, Belgium

2009

Argos—Open Lounge: David Claerbout, Manon de Boer, Peter Downsbrough, Vincent Meesen, Joëlle Tuerlinckx and Others, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, Germany

Still Moving Still, Internationaal Fotofestival Knokke-Heist, Cultureel Centrum Scharpoord and Laguna Hal, Knokke-Heist, Belgium

A Factory, A Machine, A Body . . . Archeology and Memory of Industrial Spaces, Centre d’Art La Panera, Lleida, Spain

Time as Matter: MACBA Collection; New Acquisitions, Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain

Dispositivos ópticos: La arquitectura como trayectorias de la mirada, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville, Spain

Unconcealed, The Gallery, Norwich University College of the Arts, Norwich, UK

Phase zéro: 96 propositions spatiales, Galerie Serge Aboukrat, Paris Detanico / Lain, Peter Downsbrough, Anthony McCall, Thu Van Tran, Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris, France

2008

Film program, curated by Xavier Garcia-Bardon, in ‘It’s Not Only Rock ’n’ Roll, Baby!’, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels Autour et au-delà BROODTHAERS Onomwonden, various locations, Leuven, Belgium

High Fidelity. Artists’ Records in the Marzona Collection, Kunstbibliothek Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

CHOOSING: William Anastasi—Dove Bradshaw—Peter Downsbrough—Tadaaki Kuwayama—Maurizio Nannucci—Richard Nonas—Chris Williams; A Group Exhibition Curated by Robert Barry, Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg, Germany

2007

Univers industriel, Centre Régional de la Photographie, Douchy-les-Mines, France

Based on Paper: Revolution der Kunst 1960–1975, Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Chez Dominique Perrault Architecture: des oeuvres de la collection Billarant, Dominique Perrault Architectures, Paris, France

Jardin des Tuileries, FIAC, Paris, France

Extensions: Peter Downsbrough, Takahiko Iimura, Michael Snow, organized by Work in progress, Bourges, France

What a Great Space You Have . . . (L.A.), Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, USA

2006

Art Multiple, Espace de l’art concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France

Vinyl: Records and Covers by Artists, Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain

Sites of Elasticity, video circuit in Lommel town center, Lommel, Belgium

in Brussels, Argos Centre for Art and Media, Brussels, Belgium

2005

Kontexte der Fotografie, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen, Germany

Journal #8—Manon de Boer en Brussel, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands

ICI et LA: Oeuvres de la collection de la Province de Hainaut, École régionale supérieure d’expression plastique, Tourcoing, France

Collection Daniel Bosser, extraits, Musée Matisse, Palais Fénelon, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France

Daumenkino: The Flipbook Show, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany

Modèles modèles, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

Le Génie du lieu, une proposition du Frac Bourgogne, Musée des Beaux-Arts et Palais des Ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

My One and Only, Wallspace, New York, USA

Records and Covers by Artists, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany

No Comments, Museu Serralves—Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto, Portugal

Le tableau des éléments, MAC’s—Musée des arts contemporain, Le Grand-Hornu, Belgium

Cine y Casi Cine, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

The Annual AIDS Benefit Exhibition: Everything but Paper Prayers, Barbara Krakow Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

2004

Sites, Musée du Bassin houiller Lorrain Carreau Wendel, Petite-Rosselle, France

Fotografie in België, Fotomuseum, Antwerp, Belgium

À angles vifs, Musée d’art contemporain, Bordeaux, France

Copies as Originals, Biblioteca Fundação de Serralves, Porto, Portugal

L’intime, le collectionneur derrière la porte, La Maison rouge, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, France

Fine Words Butter No Cabbage, White Walls 26th anniversary exhibition, the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

L’entrepôt du musée: Collection de la Province de Hainaut, B.P.S.22 espace de création contemporaine, Charleroi, France

Morphing Lights, Floating Shadows, Metamorph, 9th International Exhibition of Architecture, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

Zona de mestizaje, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

La ville qui fait signes, Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, Tourcoing, France

2003

Wiels! Le Centre des arts contemporains / Centrum voor Hedendaagse Kunst—proje(c)t Wielemans—Ceuppens, Brussels, Belgium

Outside of a Dog: Paperbacks and Other Books by Artists, BALTIC—The Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK

1:1 x temps, quantités, proportions et fuites, FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon, France

2002

Mobiles, Parcours d’artistes, St. Gilles, Brussels, Belgium

De concert: Oeuvres d’une collection privée, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France

French Collection, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

Extra Art: A Survey of Artists’ Ephemera 1960–1999, Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco, California, USA

Topos / Atopos / Anatopos, CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium

ars photographica, ASPC im Neuen Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany

2001

Conception: Conceptual Documents 1969–72, Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design (curated by Catherine Moseley), The Library, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK; Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Ici et maintenant, Ancien entrepôt royal Tour et Taxis, Brussels,Belgium

Extra Art: A Survey of Artists’ Ephemera 1960–1999, Logan Galleries, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, California, USA

Au fur et à mesure, Espace de l’art concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France

2000

Bruxelles (une ville) en photographies, Le Botanique, Brussels, Belgium

La Collection: Installations; L’Exotisme sans partage, Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

Paysage: 160 ans de photographie en Nord-Pas de Calais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tourcoing, France

Hors limite – Champs photographiques, Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle, Calais, France

L’artiste-concepteur à New York, MJC Terre Neuve, Dunkirk, France

99 Artisti della Collezione Marzona, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy

1999

Zich Ophouden Bij . . . , Hallezalen Belfort, Bruges,Belgium

De Opening, Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium

Footfalls, Greenport, New York, USA

Les Champs de la Sculpture 2000, Champs Elysées, Paris, France

1998

Grafteaux & Klein: Travaux d’architecture; Photographies de Philip Bernard, Pierre Devin, Peter Downsbrough, Max Lerouge, Musée d’art moderne, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France

Sans Titre a dix ans, Musée d’art moderne, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France

Livres d’enfances, École nationale d’art décoratif, Aubusson, France (organized by Pays-Paysage, Centre national du livre d’artiste and Les Écoles nationales d’art décoratif de Limoges et Aubusson, France)

1997

Wide White Space in Middelheim, Braem Pavillon, Openluchtmuseum voor Beeldhouwkunst Middelheim, Antwerp, Belgium

Livres d’artiste: L’invention d’un genre 1960–1980, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Galerie Mansart, Paris, France

La rayure, l’intervalle, le jour . . . , FRAC Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Dunkirk, France

Hommage an Stéphane Mallarmés Würfelwurf, Neues Museum Weserburg and Institut Français, Bremen, Germany

Le bel aujourd’hui: Oeuvres d’une collection privée, Le Nouveau Musée—Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne, France

1996

Winter Festival: Luc Deleu, Peter Downsbrough, Bernd Lohaus, Philippe Van Snick and Marthe Wéry, National Gallery, Sarajevo

Wide White Space, MAC—Galeries contemporaines des musées de Marseille, Marseille, France

D’une oeuvre l’autre, Musée Royal de Mariemont, Belgium

Spaced Out (Artists / Architects), Kunstverein München, Munich, Germany

247 Projects for Uni Dufour, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, Switzerland

Zoersel ’96, Zoersel, Belgium

Artistes / Architects, Centro Culturel de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal

Inviter 2, Casino Luxembourg, Forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg

Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim, Neuenhaus, Germany

Die Schrift des Raumes: Kunst Architektur Kunst, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

1995

Oeuvres acquises par le FRAC Bourgogne, Espace FRAC, Dijon, France

Wide White Space, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Les fragments du désir: Collections en exposition; Oeuvres du Fonds régional d’art contemporain Nord-Pas de Calais 1983–1995, Anciens Bâtiments des Magasins Old England, Brussels, Belgium

Euramis: James Bishop. Peter Downsbrough. James Reineking. Jerry Zeniuk, Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern, Germany

1:1, Initiative Münchener Galerien, Künstlerwerkstatt Lothringerstrasse, Munich, Germany

Artists’ Books, Tate Gallery, London, UK

Artistes / Architectes, Le Nouveau Musée, Institut d’art contemporain, Villeurbanne, France

1965–1975: Reconsidering the Object of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, USA

Passions privées. Art moderne et contemporain dans les collections particulières en France, Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

1994

Comme dans une image . . . , Galerie Gilbert Brownstone, Paris, France

Erratum Musical, Institut Français, Bremen, and other venues

L’art américain dans les collections publiques françaises de province 1960–1992, Musée de Toulon, France

Site-ations, Artists’ Project, Cardiff, UK

Metamorphosen des Schreibens, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany

Wide White Space, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium

1993

Le monde en éclats, l’oeuvre en effraction, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, France

L’Art, le mot, Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

Construction in Process, various locations, Łódź, Poland

1992

Regard multiple: Acquisitions de la Société des amis du Musée national d’art moderne, Musée national d’Art moderne Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Red Cross: International Art Action, Berlin—Lodz—Praha—Bratislawa— Budapest—Sarajevo—Tirana, organized by the Artists’ Museum, Łódź, Poland

Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi 1931–1992: La Collection du Musée de Lodz; Un siècle d’art moderne, Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

Kolekcja Musée d’Art Contemporain Lyon, Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź, Poland

No Figure, Le Channel, Galerie de l’Ancienne Poste, Calais, France

1991

Fotografie als Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, Munich, Germany

Le Consortium Collectionne, Château d’Oiron, France

Bild + Buch: Edition Hoffmann und Ottenhausen Verlag, Villa Toscana and Kammerhofgalerie, Gmunden, Austria

1990

Collection: U.S. Art, Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France

Construction in Process: Back in Lodz, Łódź, Poland

1989

Aus dem Würfelmuseum—Zur Kritik der Konstruktiven Kunst, Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany

Présence discrète (extraits), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France

Peter Downsbrough, Heinz Gappmayr, Leon Polk Smith, Tilman, Fesler & Coufo, Brussels, Belgium

1988

Sous le soleil exactement . . . , Villa Arson, Nice, France

1 Exposicion Internacional de Arte Postal en Granada—Homenaje a Federico Garcia Lorca, Granada, Spain

Works on Paper by 24 Artists, Onetwentyeight, New York, USA

1987

Utopia and Reality, Galeria Wschodnia, Łódź, Poland

Opening Exhibition, Onetwentyeight, New York, USA

Peter Downsbrough. Leo Copers. Eric Andriesse, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA

10 Jahre Kunst, Galerie Rupert Walser, Munich, Germany

1986

The Artist’s Book as a Container of Ideas, Oldenburg University Library, Oldenburg, Germany

A. P., Artists’ Photographs, Archivio Storico, Comune di Marciana, Isola d’Elba, Italy

Law and Order, Benefit Exhibition for the Center for Constitutional Rights, Leo Castelli, New York, USA

1985

Process und Konstruktion, Künstlerwerkstatt Lothringerstrasse, Munich, Germany

Structures / Components 3x, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York, USA (with Robert Barry and Robert C. Morgan)

1984

Tectonics, Musée de l’architecture, Liège, Belgium

Sans assurance, various locations, Pouilly, France

1983

Présence discrète, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France

Artists’ Use of Language, Franklin Furnace Archive, New York, USA

1982

A Museum Experience: Exchange Between Artists 1931–1982, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, France; Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland; Museum Stuki, Lodz, Poland

Artists’ Books, Ben Shahn Gallery, W. Paterson College, Wayne, New Jersey, USA

1981

Alternatives in Retrospect, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA

Mise en pièces/ Mise en place/ Mise au point, Maison de la Culture, Chalon-sur- Saône and Le Consortium, Dijon, France

Konstrukcja w Procesie, Ul. PKWN 37, Łódź, Poland

Photofiction, Contretype, Brussels, Belgium

The Page as Alternative Space: 1970–1980, Franklin Furnace Archive, New York, USA

Künstlerbücher, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

Libres d’Artistes, Metronom, Barcelona, Spain

Biënnale van de Kritiek / Biennale de la Critique, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi and Internationaal Cultureel Centrum, Antwerp, Belgium

1980

Printed Art: A View of Two Decades, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

A Collection—A Collector, The Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, Florida

Pool, Artists’ Space, New York, USA

Des travaux . . . , Journées d’art actuel, Limoges, France Radio by Artists, A Space, Toronto, Canada

1979

Elementary Concepts, Brno, Czechia

Manifesto Show, 7 Bleecker Street, New York, USA

Artists and Books: The Literal Use of Time, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA

Audio Scene ’79, Schloss Lengenfeld and Modern Art Gallerie, Vienna, Austria

1978

Artworks and Bookworks, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California and other venues

ISBN:0:00;0 LCCN: 780000, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C. and other venues (organized by Independent Curators Inc.)

Les Livres d’Artiste: Une Sélection / Kunstenaarsboeken: Een selectie, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium

The Art of Offset Printing, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

America en la Mira, Museum of Contemporary Art, Morelia, Mexico, and other venues

Focus 78, Centre culturel du Marais, Paris, France

Detective Show, Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Gorman Park, Queens, New York, USA

The Second Show, The $100 Gallery, New York, USA

Artists’ Books: Centro Libri d’Artista Cento, Zona, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy

Book Forms, Dayton Art Institute

1977

documenta 6, section ‘Artists’ Books’, Kassel, Germany

1976

Artists’ Books, Arts Council of Great Britain, London, and other venues

Rooms, PS1, Institute for Art and Urban Resources, Long Island City, New York, USA

1974

Artists’ Books, University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, USA

To Separate = Trennen, Teilen, Amerika Haus, Berlin, Germany

Works/Words, The Clocktower, Institute for Art and Urban Resources, New York, USA

1973

Drawings: Seventies, Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School of the University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Artists’ Books, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, USA

Incontri Internazionali d’Arte Contemporanea, section “Artists’ Books and Records,” Parcheggio di Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy

1972

Recent Work, 10 Bleecker Street, New York, USA

Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York, USA

Other Selected Projects / Large Scale Works

2015

LIMIT/S, a large wall piece, Andreas Murkudis, Berlin, Germany

2008

TEMPS/DE, ET, LA, LE/ DANS, Musée de la Vie Wallonne, Cour des Mineurs, Liège, Belgium

2007

TOUR/ AU, DE, LA, LE, RE, Le Musée en Plein Air du Sart-Tilman, Liège, Belgium

2005 – 2007

AGAIN/ AVEC/ ENCORE , exterior piece, Cité Internationale, Lyon, France

2004

MISE / EN, ET , exterior piece, Collège Mercier, Braine l’Alleud, Belgium

2003

VERS / ET, OU , exterior piece, Ville de Mouans-Sartoux, France

2000

BOULEVARD JACQMAIN ; AND /MAAR, OP ; AND /POUR, ET , exterior piece, Boulevard Emile Jacqmain, Brussels, Belgium

CZAS /JAK, OD , exterior piece, Kwadrat Building, Bydgoszcz, Poland

1998

BIBLIOTHEQUE UNIVERSITAIRE LE CREUSOT; ENTRE – TEMPS/ DE, ET, OU ( interior) & DE, ET, LA (exterior), 1% commission, Le Creusot, France

1997

THEATRE DE NÎMES / THEATRE DE NÎMES (exterior) & AVEC – REPERE/ DANS/ DE, ET, LA, LE, OU (interior), façade and foyer interior, Théâtre de Nîmes, Nîmes, France

1994

OKRES, Centrum Sztuki Wspolczesnej Wydawnictwo Hotel Sztuki, Warsaw, Poland

1993

STALY/ TAK, JAK , wall piece, Kilinskiego, Lodz, Poland

1990

AS/ IF , exterior piece, Film Museum, Lodz, Poland

UNITE/ DE, LA , wall piece, Rennes, France

1987 – 1991

OPEN COLUMN , sculpture, Glyptothek, Munich, Germany

1980

THE DICE , video, Spectacolor Board, Times Square, New York, USA

Selected Bibliography

2021

Peter Downsbrough. A Look at Time, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne, Germany

2019

Peter Downsbrough. 10. 2017, Pamphlets #7, # 8, #9, #10, #11, #12, Le Botanique – Centre culturel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

2018

Peter Downsbrough, Here … | Or, Avarie, Paris/Berlin

Peter Downsbrough, Hence | Here … | Or, Avarie, Paris/Berlin

Peter Downsbrough, Hence | Here … | Or | Option (special edition), Avarie, Paris/Berlin

2017

Peter Downsbrough. Cork City, Coracle, South Tipperary, Ireland

2015

Peter Downsbrough. Then Set, Centre de Livres d’Artiste, Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche

2013

SET [ IN – Peter Downsbrough, Editions Enigmatiques, Paris

Küng, Moritz (Ed.): Peter Downsbrough, The Book(s) Addendum, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, Germany

2011

Küng, Moritz (Ed.): Peter Downsbrough, The Book(s), Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, Germany

Streitberger, Alexander: “Shifting Places. Peter Downsbrough, The Photographs”, Leuven University Press

2007

1:1 x temps: quantités, proportions et fuites, Frac Bourgogne, Dijon, 104 pages, Interview with P.D. by Sarah McFadden pp 21-31, Postface by Eva Gonzalez-Sancho and Frédéric Oyharçabal, French/ English, Distributed by FRAC Bourgogne

2006

NOTES, Conversations with Peter Downsbrough, Editions Facteur Humain, Brussels, 88 pages, Preface by James Welling; interview by Marie-Thérèse Champesme, French / English, Distributed by Exhibitions International (Europe) and D.A.P. (USA)

PETER DOWNSBROUGH, Published by Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès, Paris, 24 pages, Text by Alice Morgaine, French/ English

Christian Besson: “Abductions. L’oeuvre et son interprétant.”, Mamco, 318 pages, Essay on P.D.: “Quand l’oeuvre interprète l’oeuvre. Peter Downsbough multimedia”, pp 211-231, French

2005

ET/C, Frac Bourgogne, Dijon, 88 pages, bio-bibliography, Preface by Eva Gonzalez-Sancho; texts by Line Herbert-Arnaud, Michel Gauthier and Richard Klein, French/ English, Distributed by FRAC Bourgogne

EURAMI, James Bishop, Peter Downsbrough, James Reineking, Jerry Zeniuk, Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern, Texts by Britta E.Buhlmann, Erich Franz, German/English

2003

VOLUME, Jean-Michel Place/photographie, Paris, 60 pages, photos, Text by Richard Klein, French/ English

POSITION, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles / Paleis voor Schone Kunsten Brussel, in association with Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, and Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, with the support of Argos editions, Brussels and Mamco, Genève, 176 pages, bio-bibliography, Texts by Marie-Thérèse Champesme, Marjorie Welish, Russell Ferguson and Christian Besson, English / French

2002

Michel Gautier: “L’Anarchème.”, Mamco, 176 pages, Cover illustration by P.D., Essay on P.D.: “Les corps déflecteurs” pp 104-128, French

1999

OUTLINE, Works from 1967-2000, Cd-rom coproduced by cneai – Maison levanneur, Chatou, and TransEuropFilm, Paris, France

Cécile BART – Peter DOWNSBROUGH, La Criée/ FRAC Bretagne, Châteaugiron, 48 pages, drawings, photos, Text by Catherine Elkar, French/ English

1998

HAUPTSTRASSE 37, Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim, Neuenhaus, 76 pages, drawings, photos, Texts by Gudrun Thiessen-Schneider and Jörg Stürzebecher, German /English

1997

6 POST CARDS, Centre Régional de la Photographie, Douchy-les-Mines, and Sans Titre, Lille, Booklet with 16 b/w photographs, Italian bound, Text by Denis-Laurent Bouyer, French

1996

DENSITIES, Peter Downsbrough – Christian Kieckens, Imschoot, uitgevers, Gent, 48 pages, drawings, photos, Text by Raymond Balau, French / Dutch / English

PETER DOWNSBROUGH, Pavillion de Bercy, Paris, 48 pages, drawings, photos, Text by Michel Gauthier, French / English

1995

LE/LA, Galerie de l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Quimper, 20 pages, drawings, photos, Text by René Denizot, French

1994

PETER DOWNSBROUGH, Architectural Gallery, Moscow, 24 pages, drawings, photos, Text by R.& m’Balau, Russian (translated from French)

1993

BOOKS/BUECHER, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, 24 pages, drawings, Text by Guy Schraenen, German / English

1992

UNITE / DE, LA, Ville de Rennes, Rennes, 60 pages, Text by Michel Gauthier French / English

1991

PETER DOWNSBROUGH, Dum Umeni Mesta Brna, Brno, 24 pages, photos, drawings, Text by Jiri Valoch, Czech

OPEN COLUMN. GLYPTOTHEK MUNICH, PETER DOWNSBROUGH, Galerie Rupert Walser, Munich, 128 pages, photos, drawings, Text by Rupert Walser, German /English

1990

PHOTOGRAPHS. A Selection 1977-1990, Imschoot uitgevers, Gent, 136 pages, photos, Text by René Denizot, French / English

1981

A- SET, Frankfurter Kunstverein Frankfurt/Main, 12 pages, photos, drawings, collage, Text by P.D. and Peter Weiermair, German / English

1977

PETER DOWNSBROUGH, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, 32 pages, photos, drawings, Text by P.D. and R.H.Fuchs, Dutch / English

PETER DOWNSBROUGH: AND, Anatol A.V. und Filmproduktion, Hamburg

Public Collections

Museum Stuki, Lodz, Poland

The Norman Fisher Collection, Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, Florida

The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York, USA

The New York Public Library, New York, USA

The Getty Research Institute Research Library, California, USA

The Grunwald Center, the Hammer Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA

National Gallery of Canada Library, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

The Tate Gallery Library, London, UK

Sammlung Marzona, Staatliche Kunstbibliothek zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany

Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland

Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France

Musée de Toulon, Toulon, France

Musée d’art moderne Lille Métropole, Villeneuve d’Ascq

Le Consortium, Centre d’Art, Dijon, France

Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France

FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon, France

FRAC Bretagne, Châteaugiron

FRAC Centre, Orléans, France

FRAC Lorraine, Metz, France

FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais, Dunkerque

FRAC Rhône-Alpes, Villeurbanne

DRAC Aquitaine, Montpellier, France

Ville de Rennes, Rennes

Ville de Mouans-Sartoux

Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes et de la Photographie, Paris , France

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland

Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland

Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels, Belgium

Ville de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

SMAK, Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium

Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi

Musée des Arts Contemporains, Hornu, Belgium

Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Brussels,Belgium

Communauté Française de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

Province de Hainaut, La Louvière Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve

Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain

Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Santiago de Compostella, Spain

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