ans-Peter Feldmann, who has been described as a “pioneer of artistic appropriation”, has died at the age of 82, his representatives have confirmed.
The German conceptual artist, whose body of work encompassed banal and overlooked objects including shoes, seascapes and strawberries, died on May 30.
A joint statement from eight galleries, including Simon Lee Gallery and Mehdi Chouakri Gallery, said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Hans-Peter Feldmann.
“With him we have lost an amazing and extraordinary artist.
“His unique personality and his artistic understanding of the world we are living in will stay alive in the art he has left behind.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with his beloved wife Uschi, with whom he shared art and life for many years. Hans-Peter – we all are missing you a lot.”
During his career, Feldmann was widely recognised as “a pioneer of artistic appropriation” for his work collecting and re-presenting objects capturing the mundanity of everyday life and repurposing into fine art.
In 2008, he filled the 303 Gallery with 151 international newspapers from the day after September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which he titled 9/12 Front Page.
When he won the Guggenheim Museum’s 100,000 dollar Hugo Boss Prize in 2010 at the age of 70, he pinned the prize money in one dollar bills to the institution’s walls.
In describing his development as an artist, Feldmann said he had turned to art as a way to survive “the boredom and survival mentality of post-war Germany.”
Feldmann was also a producer of artistic books, with his publications instrumental in establishing the genre as a form of artistic practice.
He leaves behind his wife Uschi.
