Sandra Peters

Sandra Peters (born 6 September 1969, Bonn, Germany) is a visual artist based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Life

Sandra Peters studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden, where she became a Meisterschülerin (master student) in 2004. She was visiting professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA in 1999–2000 and at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), Valencia, CA, in 2011 and 2012. She has taught at New York University Abu Dhabi since 2014. Peters, who was born in Bonn, now lives and works in Abu Dhabi.

Work

Sandra Peters makes art that engages the architecture of the specific exhibition site in a contrapuntal dialogue, unlocking experiences that call in question preconceived beliefs and entrenched habits of seeing, hearing, and being and moving in a space. Her sculptures pick up on historic sculptural and architectonic paradigms, which she modifies and places in constellations such that the presence of the works is interwoven with glimpses of past cultural formations. Addressing the beholder's bodily reality, her art sustains a situated experience, while also charting fields of associations that have bearing on his or her position, actual as much as imagined, in the world. Peters pursues these concerns both in sculpture strictly conceived and in a range of other media, exploring a variety of formats (sound installation, moving image, film, performance).

In 2009–2012, Peters undertook extensive studies into the oeuvre of Rudolph Schindler, an endeavor that bore fruit in a number of works that take inspiration from the architect’s buildings. In 2013, she began to probe various questions that had arisen during her work on these projects. With the sculpture Interface No. 1, realized in 2012, she embarked on a multifaceted investigation of the form of the cube as such. A little later, she gathered initial ideas for a translation of Interface No. 1 into acoustic structures that the audience would experience in an installation with the title SonicCube (2014–). In the course of her examination of the form of the cube, Peters has devoted particular attention to its eleven nets, permutations that served as the point of departure for the sculptures Pandora’s Box (2016) and Untitled (Blaue Blume) (2017–18).

Works such as Tango (2013–16) and Zabriskie Point (2013) have a basis in architecture, while also reflecting specific cultural or historic contexts. They are conceived as situations to which the viewer is encouraged to relate by contemplating or moving around them. Both works are composed of different elements whose arrangement in the space conveys an impression of a cohesive ensemble, addressing itself not just to the eye but also to the sense of touch and sensorimotor experience.

Solo Exhibitions

• Pandora’s Box. The Arts Center Project Space, Abu Dhabi, 2016
• Bilateral, Diagonal, Cubical. Aanant & Zoo, Berlin, 2013
• Interplay. Kunstsaele Berlin, 2011
• (Re)locating the Self: Sandra Peters, Bilateral–Diagonal. Y8, Hamburg, 2011
• SteinGewebe/BrickFabric. Villa Aichele, Lörrach, 2009
• Sandra Peters: Modifikation––stetig steigende Steine (Modification––Constantly Climbing Stones). Kunstverein Ruhr, Essen, 2009

Selected Group Exhibitions

• Putting for Pleasure and Politics: A Playable Sculpture Garden. The East Plaza, The Arts Center at NYU, Abu Dhabi, 2018
• Collectivity: Objects and Associations in the U.A.E. Art World. Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, 2017
• Arts Faculty: The Exhibition. The Arts Center Project Space and Lobby at NYU, Abu Dhabi, 2015
• Kenya International Film Festival. 6th Edition, Nairobi, 2011
• Conceptual Tendencies: 1960s to Today, Part II, Body, Space, Volume. Daimler Contemporary, Berlin, 2013
• Shelf Life. Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin, 2012
• (Re-)Locating the Self. Kunstsaele Berlin, 2012
• Erschaute Bauten: Architektur im Spiegel zeitgenössischer Kunstfotografie/Envisioning Buildings: Reflecting Architecture in Contemporary Art Photography. MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna, 2012
• European Film Festival, London, 2010
• Internationales Forum des jungen Films, 60. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin, 2010
• Zeigen: Eine Audiotour durch Berlin von Karin Sander, Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin, 2009–2010
• Kunst_Buch_Raum. Former Alexander von Humboldt-Buchhandlung, Potsdam, 2009
• Offene Ateliers. Atelierhaus des Bonner Kunstvereins, Bonn, 2007
• Zeichnung heute V: Katja Eckert, Karim Noureldin, Sandra Peters. Kunstmuseum Bonn, 2007

Selected Monographs

• PER / TRANS: Performing the Cube, Transforming the Cube. Works by Sandra Peters, 1998– 2017. Vienna: VfmK Verlag für moderne Kunst, 2018
• Sound Column : Circling Sound, by Gregor Stemmrich. Berlin: Self-published, 2011
• Sandra Peters. Exh. cat. Kunstsaele Berlin. Berlin: Aanant & Zoo, 2011
• Sandra Peters: Modifikation––stetig steigende Steine. Exh. cat. Essen: Kunstverein Ruhr, 2009
• Zeichnung heute V: Sandra Peters. Exh. cat. Bonn: Kunstmuseum Bonn, 2007

Reference Books and Group Exhibition Catalogues

• Collectivity: Objects and Associations in the U.A.E. Art World. Online exh. cat. Sharjah: Maraya Art Center, 2017.
• Kunst – Begriffe der Gegenwart. Von Allegorie bis Zip. Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2013
• Conceptual Tendencies 1960s to Today II: Body, Space, Volume. Exh. cat. Berlin: Daimler Contemporary, 2013
• Selected Artists: Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten des Arbeitsstipendiums für Bildende Kunst des Berliner Senats. Exh. cat. Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, 2009
• Zeigen: Eine Audiotour durch Berlin von Karin Sander. Exh. cat. Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin. Cologne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, 2009

Selected Articles and Reviews

• Genzmer, Synne. “PER/TRANS: Performing the Cube, Transforming the Cube, Works by Sandra Peters 1989–2017”, Eikon, no. 104, November 2018, 91
• Meyer-Hermann, Eva. “Räumliches Denken: Zum Werk von Sandra Peters/Spatial Thinking: On the Work of Sandra Peters.” Newsletter Curatorforartists, April 2018
• Peters, Sandra. “Proposals: Sandra Peters, north kings road // intricate structure.” in Schindler Lab, www.schindlerlab.org, ed. Anthony Carfello, Sara Daleiden, and Kimberli Meyer. Los Angeles: MAK Center for Art and Architecture, 2015
• McGovern, Fiona. “Transferleistung: Sandra Peters in den Kunstsaelen Berlin.” Texte zur Kunst, March 2012, 198–201
• Peters, Sandra. “flux balance / rotating wings.” MAK/ZINE: Applied Arts/Architecture/Design, exh. magazine, Vol. 1, no. 1, 2011, 94–95; 126–27
• Peters, Sandra. “Bildstrecke: Défilé des ombres–Passage d’images.” Texte zur Kunst, no. 78, June 2010, 153–57
• Friedrich, Jan. “Brancusi in Essen?” Bauwelt, no. 22, June 2009, 4
• John, Marcus. “Der Kampf um die rechte Form.” Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, May 8, 2009
• Zu Mecklenburg, Christina. “Offene Ateliers beim Bonner Kunstverein.” General-Anzeiger Bonn, October 27, 2007
• Kliemann, Thomas. “Reise in die Unendlichkeit.” General-Anzeiger Bonn, September 13, 2007

Online Sources

• Time Lapse for Sandra Peters’ “Untitled (Wall Drawing)“, vimeo.com, January 26, 2016
• The Conversation: Sculpture & Architecture with Sandra Peters. Interview by Matthew Corcoran, New York University Abu Dhabi, vimeo.com, February 9, 2015
• Sandra Peters: Bilateral, Cubical, Diagonal at Aanant & Zoo Gallery, Berlin. Interview by Frantisek Zachoval, youtube.com, December 14, 2012
• Artitious: Sandra Peters