With a pronounced interest in space and the body, Franka Hörnschemeyer (*1958 in Osnabrück, lives and works in Berlin) explores architectural and urban environments as media of contemporary history, social structures, and specific arrangements of the visible. Her work includes large-scale installations and objects as well as sound, video, and photographic pieces, along with minimal site-specific interventions that open up new perspectives on familiar places. Recurring materials such as drywall panels, formwork elements, and other building supplies – fundamental components of built space that are omnipresent in exhibition contexts yet rarely consciously perceived – form the basis of her practice. Hörnschemeyer understands material structures as both expressions and repositories of information that, depending on perspective, open up different temporal and historical references, and as a means of thinking about space through space. The Critical Noise series was created specifically for the n.b.k. Editions program, in connection with her solo exhibition Die Ökonomen (Singspiel) at the n.b.k. Showroom (2025). These unique works exemplify Hörnschemeyer’s engagement with her own archival material, which circulates and is recontextualized within her practice.

Since the early 1990s, Franka Hörnschemeyer’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Selected solo exhibitions: Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (2025); Museum Schnütgen, Cologne (2023); Albertinum, Dresden (2011); Jewish Museum of Greece, Athens (2008); Henry Moore Institute, Leeds / UK (2007); Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2002); Hamburger Kunsthalle (2000). Selected group exhibitions: Haus der Kunst, Munich (2023); Museum Kurhaus Kleve (2022); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2017); Kunstverein Hannover (2015); Marta Herford (2011); National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (2002); National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (2001). Public works include projects at the Paul Löbe Building of the German Bundestag, Berlin, and on Altmarkt Square in Dresden. Hörnschemeyer was professor at Hochschule für Künste Bremen (2009–2015) and subsequently professor of sculpture at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (2015–2024).