Franz Erhard Walther (born July 22, 1939, in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

, Germany) is an interdisciplinary installation and conceptual artist known for his fabric objects and activations. Franz Erhard Walther en Museo Jumex

Early life and education

Born in 1939 in Fulda, Walther studied successively at the Werkkunstschule Offenbach and the

Städelschule The Städelschule, full name Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from around 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 ...

from 1957.Franz Erhard Walther: Drawings - Frame / Line / Action / Drawn Novel, March 8–April 28, 2012
nbsp;Drawing Room. Walther later studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in the early 1960s. During his education his professor Karl Otto Götz said 'Mr. Walther, I do not understand at all what you are doing. But you are a serious young man. Go ahead.' He studied under Götz with among others Sigmar Polke and

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...

.https://www.cassinaprojects.com/artists/103-franz-erhard-walther/

Career

Walther began to experiment with ways to actively involve spectators in the production of the work in the late 1950s.Franz Erhard Walther: Drawings - Frame / Line / Action / Drawn Novel, 8 March – 28 April 2012
�Drawing Room. At this time he produced 'word' pictures in a bid to force the viewer to create their own image. In the early 60s, Walther began to experiment with paper as the work itself rather than as a ground, displaying the work in stacks that the audience were invited to leaf through, or large books with which they could interact. Between 1963 and 1969, he created the ''First Work Set'', which consists of 58 activatable pieces that place the viewer in extraordinary interpersonal situations.Franz Erhard Walther. Shifting Perspectives, 6 March — 29 November 2020

Haus der Kunst The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a museum for modern and contemporary art in Munich, Bavaria. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park. It was built between 1933 an ...

. Under the influence of Pop Art, Walther's textiles became increasingly colorful. Walther moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1967 and stayed there until 1971. From 1971 to 2009, Walther was Professor at University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. His ''Dust of Stars. A Drawn Novel'' (2007/9) is composed of 524 pages of pencil drawings and handwritten texts.

Exhibitions

Erhard's work was included in the show ''Spaces'' at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York alongside that of Larry Bell, Michael Asher,

Dan Flavin Dan Flavin (April 1, 1933 – November 29, 1996) was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures. Early life and career Daniel Nicholas Flavi ...

, Robert Morris, and Pulsa. The exhibit ran from December 30, 1969, until March 1, 1970. In 2008, Walther's ''WERKSATZ (WORKSET)'' was performed at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as part of "UBS Openings: Live – The Living Currency". Other exhibitions were held at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (2013) and Dia Beacon (2021–2022). Walther's work has been included in four editions of

Documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

, Germany;

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. In 2023, Walther was commissioned by Performa for the Performa 23 biennial for which he created his work
Creation Needs Action
'.

Collections

Walther's work is in many public collections, including the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

;

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

, Paris; Dia Art Foundation, New York;

, New York; and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

Recognition

In 1989, Walther was awarded the Edwin Scharff Prize and in 1994 the Piepenbrock Prize for Sculpture. In 2017, Walther was awarded the ''Golden Lion for the Best Artist in the Central Pavilion'' at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Franz Erhard 20th-century German artists 1939 births Living people 20th-century German sculptors German textile artists 20th-century textile artists 21st-century German artists 21st-century German sculptors 21st-century textile artists