John Franzen was born in Germany in 1981, and lives and works in Maastricht in the Netherlands.

Franzen experiments with different artistic methods and materials and works with the idea of repetition: starting with the use of paper and the color white, continuing with the investigation of the line by using ink, graphite, or blood and finishing with the creation of the line; each act is a repetition of the first one, such as in the case of Each Line One Breath where his method becomes a personal ritual, taking direction from Japanese art forms.

As shown in this video, Franzen draws these intricate artworks freehand line by line, each line impressively near the next without ever crossing, using no aid whatsoever.  In this series, a similar process is applied towards copper, but with a sharp tool rather than felt tip pen.  In his latest series, Franzen uses reflective titanium panels in which he intervenes them using different instruments like in Creation is Destruction.  This beautiful series appears in gold titanium nitride coated steel and black titanium nitride coated steel.  The two seemingly disparate series are linked in a logical complementary way:  Each Line One Breath represents the spiritual side of our being, while Creation is Destruction represents the physical side.

 

Franzen studied at the Robert Schumann Technical Institute in eastern Belgium. In 2003 he continued his artistic education by entering the Art Academy in Maastricht where he graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Franzen’s work has shown in exhibitions in Belgium (Gallery Yoko Uhoda – Knokke), France (Gallery Podgorny Robinson), Hong Kong (Parkview Gallery and Art Central). He won the First Price Art Dubai Sculpture Award – UAE.  Franzen has exhibited internationally.  The artist lives and works in Maastricht in the Netherlands.