With the exhibition »Walter Giers. Electronic Art« the ZKM presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of the oeuvre of Walter Giers (1937-2016), who is internationally regarded as a pioneer of electronic art.

With the exhibition "Walter Giers. Electronic Art" the ZKM presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of the oeuvre of Walter Giers (1937-2016), who is internationally regarded as a pioneer of electronic art. Giers was an artist in the tradition of kinetic art and Op Art and was closely associated with the ZKM during his lifetime. He lived and worked in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, where he developed light and sound objects from the late 1960s onwards. From 1974, he used the term »electronic art« to describe his works.

In preparation for this exhibition, there has been extensive conservation work on the estate of Walter Giers at the ZKM, which has been supported by the Innovation Fund for Art of the Ministry of Science, Research, and Art Baden-Württemberg and the Stiftung Kunstfonds. Many works are acutely threatened, as spare parts are no longer produced and only a few experts still have the necessary knowledge for restoration.

The retrospective features more than 120 works from Walter Giers’ estate, the collection of the ZKM, and private lenders and institutions. It is part of a series of exhibitions at the ZKM that pays tribute to a pioneering generation of media artists who are still little known to the public. At the same time, it provides insight into the ZKM's restoration workshop, one of the world's last institutions of its kind in the field of electronic arts.

The exhibition will be open from Oct. 15, 2022 to April 16, 2023.

We cordially invite you to the opening on Friday, October 14, 2022, at 6 pm!

As part of the opening, a revival of Walter Giers' composition »Homo Lusus« from 1980 will take place at 7 and 8:30 pm in the ZKM Cube.

Organization / Institution

ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe