“Ninety percent of the art market is bullshit”: ‘New Wild’ Helmut Middendorf exhibits in Galerie Keteleer (Antwerp)

He is seventy, already firmly engraved in art history, but Helmut Middendorf has not lost any energy. Fifty years ago he came to study painting in Berlin, became involved in the punk and art scene of Kreuzberg and managed to translate the energy into intense large canvases that quickly conquered the world. Middendorf became the standard bearer of the ‘Neue Wilden’.

“The breakthrough came surprisingly quickly, but we had to do it all ourselves because there was nothing in Berlin,” the famous painter now reflects. That city was completely different then, a kind of end point, especially the Turkish district of Kreuzberg, which dead-ended at the Wall. Artists of all kinds found cheap workspace there.”

Nick Cave

The center of Kreuzberg was the famous punk club SO36 co-owned by Martin Kippenberger, home to Einstürzende Neubauten and Nick Cave when he left London for Berlin. Middendorf, who also played in rock bands, once performed on stage at SO36. “Then my guitar was stolen,” he remembers. “Music was important for painters because you could express your emotions directly on stage. I also wanted that intensity in my canvases. They had to be large and flaming in color.”

“Music was important for painters because you could express your emotions directly on stage. I also wanted that intensity in my canvases. They had to be large and flaming in color.”

Helmut Middendorf

Painter

To show them, Middendorf had set up his own Galerie am Moritzplatz together with friends Reiner Fetting, Salomé and Bernd Zimmer. In the beginning that was the only place they could go. In 1980 they held a group exhibition together under the title Intense Malerei, which caused a stir. Berlin’s ‘heavy painters’ were hyped worldwide as ‘Neue Wilden’. Middendorf was allowed to go to New York, was introduced to Warhol and Basquiat and was able to exhibit in leading galleries and museums. In 1984 he was on display at the PSK, now Bozar, in Brussels and two years later he was one of the rare painters that Jan Hoet invited for his sensational exhibition Chambres d’Amis.

“The eighties were intense until the spring broke. The art market turned away from us and became interested in Jeff Koons’ stunts,” Middendorf analyzes. “After that, other new trends continued to follow. That is of course cheating, because there is always everything at the same time. When we broke through with the New Savages, it was also seen as a reaction to the boring conceptual art of before. That was not right because there was always painting going on. Today, an artist’s career in the spotlight barely lasts five years and then you can be happy. During that period, every gallery tries to ride the winning trend and present similar artists. Annoying, because ninety percent of the art market is bullshit or a side issue.”

Athens

The fact that the hype of intense painting was over in 1990 had a beneficial effect for Middendorf himself. He moved partly to Athens, where he married the well-known gallery owner Eleni Koroneu, who has been championing his work ever since. Together they quietly choose which other galleries they want to collaborate with. “Art is a way of life. You have to have an obsession and a goal, whether you can exhibit or not. You have to organize yourself and believe in your work. A deadline for a show helps but is not essential. It makes you creative and even more focused. In football, many goals are also scored in the last minutes.”

“Art is a way of life. You have to have an obsession and a goal, whether you can exhibit or not. You have to organize yourself and believe in your work”

Helmut Middendorf

Painter

The new collaboration with the Antwerp gallery Keteleer is an opportunity for Middendorf to reintroduce a young generation to the now iconic work from around 1980 and at the same time show his most recent paintings. These appear to be large, almost abstract canvases, enhanced with photos and collages.

“They are images within images, but the most important thing is that the whole works as a powerful abstract scene. The fact that you do not know the details and origin of the processed images is not that important. Sometimes they are images by Goya, a photo from a magazine or a landscape. I improvise and know where I want to go. That has always been the case. As long as the overall painting functions. The intensity and emotion: that’s what counts.”

Helmut Middendorf, That was then, this is nowruns until April 27 at Keteleer Gallery, Pourbusstraat 5, Antwerp, www.keteleer.com