After moving to Belgium in his youth, Franzen turned to drawing as a solitary response to isolation. At fifteen, he began formal artistic training at the Robert Schumann Institute before working as a woodcutter and nature educator, where he learned to think physically with his hands. He later earned his degree from the Art Academy in Maastricht in 2008, mastering form to better understand its architecture.
A pivotal shift occurred in 2007 with the death of his father, prompting Franzen to abandon figuration entirely. His practice transformed into a slow, meditative process—an ontological inquiry into line, field, emptiness, and the tension between control and surrender. Viewing the artist not as an originator, but as a channel or resonance space, Franzen approaches creation as an act of alignment, precision, and devotion.
Working out of Maastricht across two complementary studios—one light and quiet, the other industrial and heavy—Franzen navigates the dualities of stillness and force. For him, art is neither ornament nor self-expression, but a necessary contribution: an architecture for the invisible.
Exhibitions
2026
Toile Blanche Contemporary - Saint Paul de Vence, FR
2024
Hong Kong City Art Fair - Muse Gallery - Hong Kong
Art Amoy Fair - Muse Gallery - Hong Kong
Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt Ger
Galerie Engert - Eschweiler Ger
Galerie Podgorny - Saint Paul de Vence, FR
2023
Galerie Engert - Eschweiler Ger
Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt Ger
Städtische Galerie Neunkirchen - Neunkirchen Ger (Institution)
Paper Positions Munich - Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt Ger
Edition Maeght - Gallery Maeght - Paris Fr
2022
Collaboration Edition Maeght - Gallery Maeght - Paris Fr
Galerie Engert - Eschweiler Ger
Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt Ger
2021
Positions Art Fair - Schlieder Contemporary - Berlin
Cosmoscow - Booroom Gallery - Moskau RUS
Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt Ger
Drawing Now Art Fair - Galerie Podgorny Robinson - Paris FR
2020
Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt
Yoko Uhoda Gallery - Lüttich BE
Booroom Gallery - Moskau RUS
Cosmoscow - Booroom Gallery - Moskau RUS
Galerie Podgorny Robinson - S. Paul de Vence FR
2019
Saatchi Gallery Drawing Fair - London GB
Ora Ora Gallery - Hong Kong
Yoko Uhoda Gallery - Knokke BE
Galerie Art Engert - Eschweiler
Galerie Podgorny Robinson - S. Paul de Vence FR
2018
ART PARIS - Paris FR
Yoko Uhoda - Knokke BE
Parkview Gallery - Hong Kong
ART SHENZEN - Parkview Gallery
ART STAGE JAKKARTA - Parkview Gallery
2017
Yoko Uhoda Gallery - Knokke BE
Schlieder Contemporary - Frankfurt
Galerie Podgorny Robinson - S. Paul de Vence FR
Parkview Gallery - Hong Kong
2016
Gallery Yoko Uhoda - Lüttich BE
Galerie Podgorny Robinson - S. Paul de Vence FR
London Art Fair - London GB
Art Central - Hong Kong
First Price Art Dubai Sculpture Award - UAE
2015
Morgen Contemporary - Berlin
Oneiro - Paris FR
Arusha Gallery - Edinburgh GB
Art & Antiques fair - Hertogenbosch NL
Gallery Dixit Algorizmi - Berlin
Parkview Gallery - Hong Kong
Gallery Yoko Uhoda - Lüttich BE
Gallery Annette Müller - Düsseldorf
2014
Künstlerhaus Dortmund - Dortmund
Medi Art - Luxemburg LUX
AAA Auction - Amsterdam NL
Shortlisted THFMF - London GB
International Artist Award - Dubai UAE
Havoc - Amsterdam NL
2013
Scope 13 - Maastricht NL
Galerie Freitag 18.30 - Aachen
Gallery Morgen Contemporary - Berlin
Collections
Foundation Maeght - Saint Paul de Vence & Paris FR
Prince of Monaco Museum - Monaco MCO