Franz Erhard Walther was born in 1939 in Germany. After having completed his studies in Applied Arts at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d’Offenbach, the artist enrolled at the Kunstakademie de Dusseldorf. He then created the “form from the action”, intended for the artist himself or for the viewer. Pushing further the principles of informal art, the artistic process of Franz Erhard Walther is in effect the design of object and situation that can be completed by the human body (whether it’s the artist or the viewer). By inviting the public to materialize the work, the artist wishes to implicate the responsibility in the creation, demanding an engagement both physical and mental.
    Franz Erhard Walther is unquestionably one of the most influential artists of recent decades. Scarcely any other artist has been able to change the definition of what sculpture can be, with such foresight and consequence as Walther has done. Through his participative objects and textile sculptures, he has subjected the understanding of art and the r elationship between art and the observer to a fundamental re-evaluation and amplification. Not least, also through his teaching engagement over many years, he has inspired many contemporary artists.
One of Germany’s most prominent artists since the 1960s, Walther’s work was included in When Attitudes Become Form (Kunsthalle Bern, 1969) and Documenta V (Kassel, 1972) both curated by Harald Szeemann. His first American group exhibition in 1970 was Spaces at the Museum of Modern Art. Recent exhibitions include, MUDAM, Luxembourg (2015); WIELS Centre d’Art Contemporain, Brussels (2014) and CAPC Musée d’Art Cont emporain de Bordeaux, (2014); and Dia Art Foundation, New York (2010–12).
    His work is in the permanent collections of Museum of Modern Art, Dia Art Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Art Institute Chicago, The Centre Pompidou, Walker Art Center, and Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg, Nationalgalerie Berlin, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Kunsthaus Zurich, Museum fur Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, and MAMCO Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva.