Sabine Hornig

Sabine Hornig, born in 1964 in Pforzheim, Germany, works with sculpture and photography, creating tri-dimensional hybrid installations that integrate these media in a tromp l’oeil effect which defies the scale and perspective of the portrayed objects. Hornig lives and works in Berlin, the city where she had her academic training and where she received the BFA and the MFA by the Hochschule der Künste.  The artist explores the materiality of the languages of Minimalism and Modern Architecture, using images of glass facades, doors and windows of buildings to portray the experience of the urban space.

Her installations frequently explore specific glass window displays, portraying them or even installing photographs to be seen from the street, superimposing the view of shops or offices under construction, the reflection of the street where they are situated, and the reflections of the exhibitory space itself.

With the photographic aspect of her work, Hornig captures building sites, reconstructions and abandonments with traces of a temporary human presence. Such almost cinematographic scenes are seen through a glass, superimposing an external view of the neighbourhood where they are located. On par with this almost documental activity, the material on which the photos are printed is also translucent. This interaction of image and transparency enables the spectator to comprehend simultaneously the represented city and the visual echo on the glass surface, while also seeing the space of the museum or gallery where he/she is.

The development of connections between photography, sculpture and spatial installation creates an independent form of work, and the combination contributes to a new understanding of the traditional artistic genres with means of representation that already carry their own history.

Hornig has had solo exhibitions all over the world, including Double Transparency, Art Unlimited Basel in Switzerland (2014), Durchs Fenster, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2011-12) and Projects 78, Museum of Modern Art in New York (2003). She also participated in numerous group exhibitions at institutions like the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, ICA London and MAAT, Lisbon.

The artist received grants from PS1, New York (1999/2000), Karl-Schmidt_Rotluff, Germany (1998) and Kunstfonds, Germany (1996), and she participated in artistic residences at Museo Nivola, Orani (2015), Bangalore and Kochi, India (2014), Villa Aurora, Los Angeles (2009) and UC Los Angeles (1995). Her work is represented in relevant collections, like Malmö Konstmuseet (Sweden), Pinakothek der Moderne (Germany), Hamburger Kunsthalle (Germany), MoMA (USA), Guggenheim Collection (USA) or ARCO Foundation (Spain).

 

DC, April 2021