Dietrich Helms
Der unscheinbare Radikale
26.10.2014

Sometimes radicalism comes across as inconspicuous. This is the case with the works of Dietrich Helms. The works of art by the artist, who was born in Osnabrück in 1933, make a banal impression at first glance. They are usually made from everyday materials, are rather inconspicuous in terms of color, or at least not designed to attract attention. Their dimensions are not unusual either. But the calm “things”, the painted-over maps, the wall objects, picture pieces or material objects undermine, or did undermine, the classic expectations of a work of art. The names of the groups of works make this clear: “things”, “picture pieces” or “recipe art” do not correspond to any traditional categorization. They are not beautifully colorful either, nor do they have anything sublime about them, are not an image and are sometimes not even created by the artist himself. Years before everyone became an artist by misinterpreting a quote taken out of context, Dietrich Helms was already calling on laymen to participate in art production. For example, in 1969, when he was invited to an exhibition at the Galerie Ernst in Hanover or, a little later, at an exhibition in the Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst in Bremerhaven.
While in the 1960s, on the one hand, pop art, action and conceptual art vehemently questioned the traditional criteria for art with their sensational actions, oversized works or striking motifs, Dietrich Helms questioned these criteria in a far less spectacular but no less radical, fundamental and effective way, in a quiet way with ostensibly simple artistic works or requests. Dietrich Helms calmly took art off its pedestal.
To this day, his works have lost none of their unobtrusive fundamentality. The Kunstverein is now dedicating a separate room in the Kunstmuseum Bremerhaven to the inconspicuous radical.