Rebecca Horn

*1944 in Michelstadt, Germany † 2024 in Bad König im Odenwald, Germany

  Rebecca Horn studied at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg from 1963 onwards. In 1971 she went to the St. Martin’s School of Art in London with the support of a DAAD scholarship and lived in New York from 1972 to 1981. In 1974 she taught at the California Art Institute, University of San Diego and from 1989 at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin.

Horn is particularly known for her performances and kinetic sculptures, which later replace the human body in her work. Among the materials she uses are found objects as well as specially created objects, including suitcases, metronomes, feather fans, large funnels and pumping stations. The possible and actual transformation of the objects and their contexts is a central aspect of Horn’s work. 

Her works have been shown in major solo exhibitions worldwide, including Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (1981), M.O.C.A. Los Angeles (1990), Guggenheim Museum New York (1993), National Gallery Berlin (1994), Tate Gallery London (1994), Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover (1997), Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin (2006), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2009), National Gallery of Modern Art New Delhi (2012), and Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg (2017). Horn has received numerous awards for her work, including the documenta Prize (1986), the Carnegie Prize for The Hydra Forest, Performing Oscar Wilde (1988), the Kaiserring der Stadt Goslar (1992) and the Barnett and Annalee Newman Award (2004).  

  Photo: Gunter Lepkowski, Berlin