Rolf Glasmeier: Frieden im Kopf (Peace in Mind) is a comprehensive retrospective at Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen dedicated to the artist, graphic designer and exhibition organiser Rolf Glasmeier (1945–2003). Trained at the Ulm School of Design, Glasmeier developed an internationally renowned style that combined geometrical clarity and serial structures with participatory practice. It was in this phase that Glasmeier produced his interactive sculptures which directly involved the audience in the creative process and whose materiality was deeply connected with industrial manufacturing and mining in the Ruhr region.
Later he began to incorporate his entire material environment into his art, including the dregs of consumer society. Chance became an integral creative principle. Glasmeier developed an understanding of art as a field of spiritual energy with the potential to reshape society. His creative process expanded to embrace actions in the public domain, happenings accompanied by music and interdisciplinary symposia. Marking Rolf Glasmeier’s 80th birthday, this retrospective offers a unique opportunity to rediscover the prolific scope of his artistic creativity. An accompanying catalogue (German/English, 160 pages) will be published by Snoeck Verlag, Cologne.
Programm of events
Opening:
16. November 2025, 12 pm
Speakers:
Andrea Henze
Mayor of Gelsenkirchen
Dr. Michael Reitemeyer
Head of the Department of Culture
Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia
Julia Höner
Director Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen
Programm of events:
Advance regristration is required for both events
by mail: kunstmuseum@gelsenkirchen.de or by telephone: 02091694377
Both events are held in German.
20.11.2025, 7pm
Horster Straße 13, 45897 Gelsenkirchen
350 Feste für die Kunst!
Rolf Glasmeier organised 350 exhibitions of work by regional and international artists in his own studio. In a conversation to be held at his former studio, his son, Jan Glasmeier talks to Danuta Karsten, one of the artists who exhibited there at his behest, about Glasmeier's work as an exhibition organiser, networker and patron of the arts. Moderator: Julia Höner
07.02.2026, 3pm
House Glasmeier, Ravenbusch 9-11, 45888 Gelsenkirchen
Blick durchs Schlüsselloch
One could describe architect, Ernst Otto Glasmeier's home ar a house for art and full of art. What is it like to grow up in such a culturally rich family home? In a talk held at House Glasmeier, art and architecture historian, Alexander Apfelbaum, and Michael Glasmeier, art historian and poet, look back on a period when artist networks and art collections of European significance developed in the Ruhr region.
Public guided tours:
23.11., 07.12.,21.12.2025
11.01., 25.01., 22.02.2026
The tours are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
(only in German)
