Vita

Hans Peter Riegel was born in Düsseldorf into a family deeply interested in the arts. He studied Visual Communication, Photography, Film, and Art Theory at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, and pursued partial studies in Philosophy at the University of Düsseldorf.

In 1973, through the mediation of his art teacher Wilfrid Polke, the older brother of Sigmar Polke, he first encountered Joseph Beuys.

In 1975, Riegel met the Beuys student Jörg Immendorff during a school politics project. The two became close friends. After completing an internship in stage design at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, Riegel worked as Immendorff’s assistant from 1979 to 1984 - a period marked by numerous encounters with Beuys as well.

During these years, Riegel served as Immendorff’s photographic and film documentarian and collaborated with him on various projects and publications, including FF bringts, Café D. gut, Weltfrage – Video und Edition, 38.-, 39.-, 40. Parteitag, and La Paloma – Kapelle am Wegesrand.

Initially, Riegel exhibited paintings, but soon turned his focus to photography, video, and later digital media. His interest in applied art and contemporary media led him to the field of advertising.

After graduating and spending an extended period in New York, Riegel began his advertising career in 1984 as the youngest Art Director and Copywriter at the legendary agency GGK Düsseldorf.

In the following years, he led agencies within the BBDO and Publicis networks as Creative Director, Managing Director, and Partner. His work received numerous international awards for design excellence. He served on the jury of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and is a jury member of the Art Directors Club of Switzerland.

In 1992, he was also involved in the development of the Powerhouse concept for Apple, a preliminary study for Apple-stores which later became The Garden in Düsseldorf. Riegel conceived and designed The Garden which was the first multimedia event center in Germany, integrating web, live television, and telecommunications experiences.

In 1997, he left the advertising industry, relocated to Zurich, and took over responsibility for Riverside, an investment and consulting company which he had founded back in 1995. As a strategic consultant and business partner, he developed pioneering projects in digital media and cultural production. He played a significant role in the initial public offering of Pixelpark a subsidiary of Bertelsmann, which was then Europe’s largest web agency.

From 1998 to 2001, he was CEO and partner of the EPM Media Group in Hamburg in collaboration with Bertelsmann, working in the field of digital media and cultural production. During this time, he oversaw countless live productions, including concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna and Berlin that were broadcast worldwide.

At the end of 2021, he withdrew from all business roles and returned to Zurich.

From 2002 until 2010, he worked with is Riverside as a strategic- and creative-consultant for select clients. These included fashion and media companies, as well as players in the music industry.

At the same time, he began creating art again. Under the pseudonym SIS.TM, he launched a conceptual art project that critically examined the socialization of individuals on the Internet - primarily through video works. He was among the first artists worldwide to explore the Internet as both medium and subject of artistic inquiry. The project attracted a great deal of interest and gained nationwide attention following a report on the main edition of the Swiss Tagesschau on May 30, 2025.

In 2008, he published a book from this project under the title FLICKERING SUBJECTS and announced the end of the project.

Afterward, he intensified his work as a writer and art scientist, wrote as a journalist for major media such as Die Welt, Der Spiegel, Fokus or NZZ and published several books:

• 2010:IMMENDORFF – THE BIOGRAPHY

• 2013:BEUYS – DIE BIOGRAPHIE (first edition)

• 2018: Expanded new editions of BEUYS – DIE BIOGRAPHIE (Volumes 2 and 3)

• 2018: Expanded new edition of IMMENDORFF – DIE BIOGRAPHIE

• 2019:ÜBER KUNST

• 2021:BEUYS – DIE BIOGRAPHIE, Volume 4

The Beuys biography - now totaling around 1,500 pages - changed the reception of Beuys fundamental, has attracted international attention and is regarded today as the definitive work on Beuys in German-language literature.

In 2016, with a modest budget of only 30,000 Swiss francs, Riegel produced the essayistic documentary film MEL. DAS ANDERE LEBEN, which premiered in cinemas in February 2017 to highly positive reviews.

In 2017, he directed the experimental feature film DRIFTED, for which he also wrote the screenplay and co-composed the music. DRIFTED was the first European feature film shot entirely on smartphones and has since been released on major streaming platforms.

Hans Peter Riegel has also been active as a music producer since his youth; under the pseudonym AZILE, he has produced numerous songs for commercials and, in recent years, especially experimental soundtracks.

In 2018, Riegel founded a digital publishing company RIVERSIDE PUBLISHING and began contributing articles on art to leading publications.

In 2020, he initiated and curated DA Z – Digital Arts Zurich, an international festival showcasing distinguished artists from around the world.

In 2020, he conceived and produced the art exhibition Window of the World in St. Moritz.

In 2022, he wrote and directed the experimental opera Disrupted Scenes at the Zurich Opera House.

Riegel’s own artworks have been widely exhibited and are represented in several collections. He continues to work as a media artist.

Alongside his work as an author, artist, and curator, Hans Peter Riegel is a successful entrepreneur and strategic advisor to major companies and organizations. He is the founder, Creative Director, and, together with his wife Tanja Hollenstein, owner of the RIVERSIDE group of companies, one of Switzerland's leading strategic consulting firms and an ambitious producer of digital media and digital culture.

His personal work focuses on fostering exchange between social groups through socially relevant strategic concepts, cultural platforms and digital media.

Hans Peter Riegel lives and works in Zurich.

A very personal conversation:

SWR2 Contemporaries

"I owe Beuys the indispensable will to make a difference."

Link to the broadcast