PETER FEND

Peter Fend (1950 Columbus, Ohio, USA) è un artista attivo a New York dalla fine degli anni Settanta. Il suo lavoro unisce ecologia, geopolitica e pianificazione territoriale, e considera l’arte uno strumento pratico per affrontare concretamente questioni ambientali, economiche e politiche. Nel 1980 Fend ha cofondato la Ocean Earth Development Corporation, un’organizzazione che utilizza immagini satellitari per analizzare crisi ecologiche, conflitti e impatti industriali, anticipando pratiche investigative oggi ampiamente diffuse. I suoi progetti propongono alternative ai sistemi estrattivi attraverso la gestione delle risorse idriche, le energie rinnovabili e il ripristino degli ecosistemi, come dimostra il progetto Africa–Arctic Flyway. Esposto in contesti internazionali come la Biennale di Venezia, dOCUMENTA, MUMOK e Palais de Tokyo, Fend opera al confine tra arte, scienza e attivismo, ridefinendo la figura dell’artista come agente di cambiamento su scala planetaria ed ecologica.

Peter Fend (1950 Columbus, Ohio, USA), vive e lavora a New York.

 

 

ISTRUZIONE

1973, BA, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA

 

 

MOSTRE PERSONALI SELEZIONATE

2025

Lavoro per Natura Vivente, non solo Capitali, Fondazione Morra Greco, Napoli, Italia

 

2024

Azioni sulla Terra, Pinksummer, Genova, Italia

 

2021

Peter Fend, Georg Kargl BOX, Vienna, Austria

 

2020

BIRDS REIGN, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlino, Germania

 

2019

AFRICA-ARCTIC FLYWAY, Museo Nivola, Orani, Sardegna, Italia

Filling the absence – Peter Fend and Yona Friedman, Pinksummer, Genova, Italia

 

2018

HACE SENTIDO / MAKES SENSE, Embajada, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Costa Verso Costa, Pinksummer, Palermo, Italia

 

2017

Forse, Pinksummer, Genova, Italia

Shadow Cabinet: A Loyal Opposition Response, Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, New York, USA

 

2015

TO BE BUILT, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlino, Germania

AFRIKA EUROPA BRÜCKE, Oracle, Berlino, Germania

 

2014

REBELS ARE REASONABLE, ESSEX STREET, New York, USA

Lomonosov Furthered, con Shane Munro, LISTZ, Berlino, Germania

 

2012

Über die Grenze: May Not Be Seen Or Read Or Done, ESSEX STREET, New York, USA

WHAT TO DO NEXT, Peanut Underground Art Projects, New York, USA

 

2011

“Arab Springs”/ Atlantic Wealth: Trading Room, White Box / MA.P.S, New York, USA

Ricchezza D’Italia, Galleria Cesare Manzo, Pescara, Italia

 

2010

Situation Room, 391 Victoria Street, Hamilton, New Zealand

 

2009

Situation Room: Technology Change Climate Stability, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

 

2007

Elbegas, Galerie für Landschaftskunst, Amburgo, Germania

BET AND WIN: Way Out Too, Unit 2 Gallery, Londra, UK

 

2005

Parallel Projects: Proposals for Condoleezza Rice / Parallelprojekte: Vorschläge für Condoleezza Rice, Christian Nagel, Berlino, Germania

 

2004

Reverse Global Warming, Spacex, Exeter, UK

One to Another (proposta di politica estera), American Fine Arts, New York, USA

Correspondence, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

 

2003

Independence from Big Oil, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, Dublino, Irlanda

Proposals for Arabia, Galeria Marta Cervera, Madrid, Spagna

 

2002

Global Gas / Super Gas, Ocean Earth vis-à-vis Superflex, Kunstruimte Wagemans, Paesi Bassi

 

2001

Naval Action, Mars Gallery, Tokyo, Giappone

Big Deal: Revival of the Americas, Nikolai Fine Art, New York, USA

Sea Change, Spacex Gallery, Exeter, UK

Ocean Earth: Policy Models, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois, USA

Economic Potential, Roger Smith Gallery, New York, USA

 

2000

RAPID: Post-Petroleum Gas Stations, Launching a Brand, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

EURAFRICA/AMERICAS/MONDO, Galeria Marta Cervera, Madrid, Spagna

NEWS ROOM NEW YORK (Chaikin, Fend, Lehman, Lombardi, RR), Roger Smith Gallery, New York, USA

 

1999

Global Warming: A Rapid Response Remark, presso Chelsea Exxon station, Nikolai Fine Art, New York, USA

Chase Scene, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

 

1998

NEWS ROOM GRAZ, Kunst und Neue Medien, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria

 

1997

Spiral Ramp, Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York, USA

 

1996

Chernobyl Solutions, Steffany Martz Gallery, New York, USA

Art Meets Science, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Danimarca

 

1995

Landkraft/Swiss Split, Ars Futura, Zurigo, Svizzera

Landkraft, Kunstlerhaus Palais Thurn & Taxis, Bregenz, Austria

Architecture for the 21st Century, Artspace, Sydney, Australia

 

1994

Eurasian Scenario, Marc Jancou Gallery, Londra, UK

Startbahn Oesterreich, Galerie Metropol, Vienna, Austria

Global Spiral, installation at Global Forum, G-Mex Centre, Manchester, UK

Ocean Earth, Strauss & Adamopolous, Francoforte, Germania

NEWS ROOM COPENHAGEN, con Globe, Copenhagen, Danimarca

 

1993

Strategie Globale: Giant Algae System for France, FRAC Poitou-Charentes, Angouleme, Francia

Habitus, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Parigi, Francia

OCEAN EARTH: FOR A WORLD WHICH WORKS, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum, Graz, Austria

NEWS ROOM PARIS, Galerie des Archives, Parigi, Francia

 

1992

Site Simulator, Tivat Bay, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

Beach Party Deutschland, Galerie Esther Schipper, Colonia, Germania

Beach Party Yugoslavia, Riverside Studios, Londra, UK

Documenta Flags, Galerie de Marseille, Marsiglia, Francia

Documenta Flags, Le Case D’Arte, Milano, Italia

Espace Circulant/Spinning Room, Galerie Roger Pailhas, Parigi, Francia

Floriade, L’Aia, Paesi Bassi

Corse Divise, Assemblee Nationale, Parigi, Francia

NICAF, Yokohama, Giappone

Means to Wealth/Mittel und Wohlstand, Galerie Tanja Grunert, Colonia, Germania

 

1991

Europa, Kunstraum Daxer, Monaco, Germania

Beach Party, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

NEWS ROOM STOCKHOLM, Galerie Nordenstad-Skarstedt, Stoccolma, Svezia

Salle du Monde, installazione a lungo termine, L’Hôpital éphémère, Parigi, Francia

 

1990

City of the Dead / Die Totenstadt, Galerie Tanja Grunert, Colonia, Germania

Cities as Bodies / Staedte als Koerper, Esther Schipper, Colonia, Germania

NEWS ROOM FRANKFURT, Institut fuer Neue Medien / Pavilion Varisella, Francoforte, Germania

NEWS ROOM NEW YORK/NEWS ROOM AMSTERDAM, American Fine Arts, New York and Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, Paesi Bassi

Progetto Adriatico, Le Case D’Arte, Milano, Italia

Einheiten, Galerie Ryszard Varisella, Francoforte, Germania

Kleine Fragen, Galerie Christian Nagel, Colonia, Germania

 

1989

Completion of the War, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

Global Monitoring and Assessments: Towards the 21st Century, Fondazione Cini, Venezia, Italia

 

1988

BODY, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

Peter Fend, Scott Hanson Gallery, New York, USA

Art at the End of the Social, Rooseum, Malmo, Svezia

 

1985

Bacino Torbido, Museo Santa Barbara, Calabria, Italia

 

1983

Image/Process, The Kitchen, New York, USA

 

1982

Space Force in Action, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germania

Art of the State, The Kitchen, New York, USA

Global System, Chase Manhattan Plaza, sponsorizzato da Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, USA

 

1979

IRON LUNG: A ROOM DEFINED NOT BY ITS WALLS BUT BY A PUMP, Peter Nadin Gallery, New York, USA

WEALTH OF BASINS, DEATH OF NATIONS, Peter Nadin Gallery, New York, USA

World Space: Political Economies After Oil, Peter Nadin Gallery, New York, USA

 

 

MOSTRE COLLETTIVE SELEZIONATE

2025

Confrontations, Pairings from the Collection, Museum Brandhorst, Monaco, Germania

Files, Kunsthalle Zurich, Zurigo, Svizzera

 

2024

1,5 Grad, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germania

The Ocean, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norvegia

 

2022

The State I Am In, Capitain Petzel, Berlino, Germania

Visual Natures: The Politics and Culture of Environmentalism in the 20th and 21st Century, Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbona, Portogallo

Conditions and Frameworks: Infrastructure as Form and Medium, Accademia di Belle Arti di Vienna, Austria

 

2020

Politiche della Natura-Masters, MAAB Gallery, Milano, Italia

Critical Zones, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germania

Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurigo, Svizzera

Excerpts: Works from the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Collections, Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

 

2019

RESET, Kai Matsumiya, New York, USA

 

2018

Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., USA

Unthought Environments, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, Illinois, USA

The Conditions of Being Art: Pat Hearn Gallery & American Fine Arts, Co. (1983-2004), CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, USA

The Dutch Savannah, De Domijnen Museum, Sittard, Paesi Bassi

We stared at the Moon from the centre of the Sun, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK

The Second Yinchuan Biennale: Starting from the Desert, Ecologies on the Edge, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Cina

 

2017

EUtopia | 28, Museumcultuur Strombeek/Gent, Strombeek, Belgio

Tomorrow Will Still Be Ours, Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York, USA

Aubades. Land Art for Aliens, Weiss Falk, Basilea, Svizzera

Water Worlds #1, Centre international d’art et du paysage, Beaumont-du-Lac, Francia

 

2016

World Made By Hand, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, USA

Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, Texas, USA

History Made By Artists, C L E A R I N G, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Tomorrow’s Man, Sheppard Contemporary, University Galleries, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

You Cannot Do Nothing, Galerie Alte Schule, Berlino, Germania

Oceans After Nature, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California, USA

Politics of Nature, Fondazione Zimei, Pescara, Italia

Global Terror, Nagel Draxler Kabinett, Berlino, Germania

Mean Machine (Up Jumped the Devil), The Meeting, New York, USA

 

2015

Territories: Alighiero e Boetti and Peter Fend, Le Case D’Arte, Milano, Italia

Globale – Exo-Evolution, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germania

The Fountainhead, Fondazione Zimei, Pescara, Italia

to expose, to show, to demonstrate, to inform, to offer: Artistic Practices around 1990, Mumok, Vienna, Austria

2050. A Brief History of the Future., Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Bruxelles, Belgio; Palazzo Reale Milano, Italia

Dojima River Biennale 2015: Take Me To The River – currents of the contemporary, Dojima River Forum, Osaka, Giappone

Anthems for the Mother Earth Goddess, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, USA

Drawings | Fridges, Greene Exhibitions, Los Angeles, California, USA

DUMP! Multispecies Making and Unmaking, Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus, Danimarca

Decolonized Skies, organizzato da High&Low Bureau, ADN Platform, Barcellona, Spagna

For Troedsson Villa, a cura di Tam Ochiai e Anne Eastman, Troedsson Villa, Nikko, Giappone

ECO-TAX, Cannonball and Dimensions Variable, Miami, Florida, USA

Looking Back / The 9th White Columns Annual, selezionato da Cleopatra’s, White Columns, New York, USA

Hollywood Hills House, a cura di Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou, ltd los angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

 

2014

WORK IT OUT, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Decolonized Skies, organizzato da High&Low Bureau, Apexart, New York, USA

TEDxVaduz redux, T293, Roma, Italia

The Real Estate Show Was Then: 1980, James Fuentes, New York, USA

 

2013

Looking Back / The 7th White Columns Annual, selezionato da Richard Birkett, White Columns, New York, USA

Scott Burton, a cura di Oscar Tuazon, Fondazione Giuliani, Roma, Italia

Yes Naturally: How Art Saves The World, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, L’Aia, Paesi Bassi

 

2012

OilScapes, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen, UK

 

2010

Islands and Ghettos, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberger, Germania

 

2008

This is the Gallery…, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK

Come Out & Play, apexart, New York, USA

 

2007

Green Dreams, Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Germania

Aussen vor/On The Outside, ACC Galerie, Weimar, Germania

Still Life. Art, Ecology & The Politics of Change, 8ª Biennale di Sharjah, Emirato di Sharjah, Emirati Arabi Uniti

Arrêt sur Images, FRAC Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, Marsiglia, Francia

 

2006

The Drop, Exit Art, New York, USA

 

2005

Gotik und Moderne, Fraenkische Galerie, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Kronach, Germania

Temporary Spaces, Ausstellungsraum Glue, Berlino, Germania

Mirage, a cura di Martin Beck e Julie Ault, Alexander and Bonin, New York, USA

Dry Wells that Upwell Groundwater to Revive Margins of Salt Lakes, Harper Dry Lake, California, USA

Waterways, Biennale di Venezia, Italia

 

2004

Election, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

Hortus, Independent Section, Biennale di Liverpool, UK

Wonderful, Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK

Le Dessus des Cartes, ISELP, Bruxelles, Belgio

Adaptations, Apexart, New York, USA

 

2003

Attack: Art and War, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

Banquete/Bankett, Barcelona Cultural Center, Barcellona, Spagna; Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM), Karlsruhe, Germania; Medialab, Madrid, Spagna

GNS, Palais de Tokyo, Parigi, Francia

Hardcore, Palais de Tokyo, Parigi, Francia

Utopia Station, Biennale di Venezia, Italia

Collaborations, Centre d’art Contemporain, Meymac, Francia

 

2002

Ars Electronica 2002, Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria

Oekonomien der Zeit, Museum Ludwig, Colonia, Germania; Akademie der Kunste, Berlino, Germania; e Migros Museum, Zurigo, Svizzera

Ecovention, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Ways Out, Stroom, L’Aia, Paesi Bassi

Empire/State: Artists Engaging Globalization, Whitney Independent Study Program, New York, USA

 

2001

The South Bronx Story, James Fuentes / The Point, The Bronx, New York, USA

Cartographie des artistes, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Parigi, Francia

São Paulo Biennale, Azerbaijan/Armenia/Georgia Pavilion, San Paolo, Brasile

 

2000

Ecologies, The Smart Museum, The University of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Undo, Theater for the New City, New York, USA

Dystopia, Tribes Gallery, New York, USA

World Trade, Roebling Hall, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Carnival in the Eye of the Storm, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon, USA

 

1999

Post-War Architecture, Biennale di Venezia, Italia

Crash, ICA, Londra, UK

 

1998

Your Utopia, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Hey, You Never Know, Kenny Schachter / ROVE, New York, USA

Cartographers, Center for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Varsavia, Polonia

Cartographers, Umnetnosta Galerie, Maribor, Slovenia, Entrance display

Desert Flood, ROVE, New York, USA

 

1997

The Experimenters, curato da Kenny Schachter, Lombard-Fried Fine Arts, New York, USA

French Pavilion TV Studio, con Fabrice Hybert, Biennale di Venezia, Italia

Cartographers, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagabria, Croazia

Géographiques: territoires vécus, territoires voulus, territories figures, FRAC Corse, Corsica, Francia

 

1996

Atopic Site, curato da Yukiko Shikata, Tokyo International Exhibition Center, Tokyo, Giappone

Art Meets Science, in concomitanza con “Copenhagen, European City of Culture,” Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Danimarca

 

1995

Faith, Hope, Love, Death, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

Mapping: A Response to MoMA, a cura di Peter Fend, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

On Board, Aperto, Biennale di Venezia, Italia

Photography After Photography, Siemens Kulturprogramm, Monaco; Kunsthalle, Krems, Austria; Städtische Galerie Erlangen, Brandenburgische Kunstsammlungen, Cottbus, Germania; Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Danimarca; Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Svizzera; ICA Londra, UK; ICA Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Infrasound, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, Amburgo, Germania

 

1994

Cloaca Maxima, curato da Hans Ulrich Obrist, Stadtentwasserung, Zurigo, Svizzera

Bifurcations, Centre d’art Contemporain, Meymac, Francia; Musée des Beaux-arts de Dole, Francia; Cimaise et portique, espace d’art contemporain, centre culturel de l’Albigeois Albi, Francia

Mission Impossible, Gashouder, Amsterdam, Paesi Bassi

 

1993

Aperto, Biennale di Venezia, Italia

Kunst in Weltmasstab, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germania

Fontanelle, Potsdam, Germania

Kontext Kunst, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

First Europeans, Schloss Charlottenberg, Berlino, Germania

Antwerp Cultural Center, European City of Culture, Anversa, Belgio

The Edge of Chaos: New Ways of Seeing, Louisiana Museum for Modern Art, Humlebaek, Danimarca

Viennese Story, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria

Tutto Tondo, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Colonia, Germania

 

1992

Documenta IX, Kassel, Germania

Documatter, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, USA

Il Faut Construire Hacienda, curato da Nicholas Bourriaud, CCC, Tours, Francia

Multiplici Culturali, selected by Angela Vettesse, Roma, Italia

Floriade, L’Aia, Paesi Bassi

Corse Divise, Assemblée Nationale, Parigi, Francia

Nippon International Contemporary Art Fair, Yokohama, Giappone

Reconnaissance, Simon Watson Gallery, New York, USA

 

1991

Teorici Americani, Ottagano, Milano, Italia

Wiener Festwochen, subway station installations, Vienna, Austria

FRAC Corse, Corsica, Francia

Iberian Current, FRAC Pays de la Loire, Francia

 

1990

Around the World, PS 1, Long Island City, New York, USA

The Köln Show, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Colonia, Germania

California Project, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA

Reconnaissance, Simon Watson Gallery, New York, USA

 

1989

Art at the End of the Social, Rooseum, Malmo, Svezia

Video Works, Galerie Nordenstadt, Stockholm, Svezia

Competition Diomede, The Clocktower, New York, USA & USSR

On-Site: Response to Conditions, Anne Plumb Gallery, New York, USA

Jet Lag, Turon Travel, New York, USA

Project DMZ, Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, USA

Completion of the War, American Fine Arts, New York, USA

Global Monitoring and Assessments: Towards the 21st Century, presentazione in due parti in occasione della conferenza UN Food & Agriculture Organization and UN Environment Program, Fondazione Cini, Venezia, Italia

 

1988

The New Poverty II, Meyers-Bloom Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA

International Landscape, XPO Gallery, Amburgo, Germania

International Landscape, Galerie Christoph Duerr, Monaco, Germania

Computer Images of Architecture, NY Chapter, American Institute of Architects, New York, USA

Competition Diomede, The Clocktower, New York, USA

Kunstrai, Amsterdam, Paesi Bassi

Public Discourse, Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

The Drawing Show, Cable Gallery, New York, USA

 

1987

Documenta VIII, Kassel, Germania

The New Poverty, John Gibson Gallery, New York, USA

Corporate Crime, spazi alternativi, San Francisco e San Diego, California, USA

 

1986

Surveillance, LACE Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA

 

1985

Deutsche Kunst, 1945-1985, Nationalgalerie, Berlino, Germania

 

1984

Kunst und Medien, Kunsthalle Berlin, Berlino, Germania

Via Satellite, Amerika Haus, Colonia, Germania

The International Show, a cura di Michael Smith, Baskerville & Watson, New York, USA

 

1983- 1984

Show, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts/Village Voice, New York, USA

Image/Process, The Kitchen, New York, USA

Documenta VII, Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Germania

 

1982

Natural History, a cura di Scott Cook, Grace de Borgenicht Gallery, New York, USA

 

1981

New York, New Wave, a cura di Diego Cortez, PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, USA

Forrest Avenue Maze, on-site project, Forest Avenue School, The Bronx, New York, USA

Jamaica Fish/Bird Port, Urban Animals II, ABC No Rio / Collaborative Projects

 

1980

The Real Estate Show, New York, USA

Ruhrgebiet Projects, Duisburg, Germania

The Times Square Show, New York, USA

Public Policy: Architecture Propositions, organizzato da Peter Fend, 626 Broadway, New York, USA

 

1979

World Space: Political Economies After Oil, Peter Nadin Gallery, New York, USA

Manifesto Show, New York, USA e Milano, Italia

Partecipazione negli show Urban Animals, South Bronx e ABC No Rio, New York, USA

Partecipazione negli show Collaborative Projects (1978-83, principalmente 1979)

 

1978

Poetry of Systems, Baxter Art Museum, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA