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Helmut Dorner

In the mid 1980s Helmut Dorner emerged as one of the most significant abstract painters of his generation, achieving widespread recognition through major solo and group shows worldwide. Dorner has exhibited with the eponymous Galerie Bärbel Grässlin since 1992 and was also included in Jan Hoet's influential Documenta IX in 1992. The essence of Dorner’s work is a quest for a poetry of painting, a tension, a rhythm between colors and matter that result in feeling. The artist strives to bring painting back to its original aim: direct visual experience that leads to emotion and awakens the senses. Dorner suggests a visual experience, an experiment based not on chance, but on the infinite movement of thought.

Helmut Dorner (b. 1952, Gengenbach-Baden, Germany) lives and works in Karlsruhe. Dorner studied under Gerhard Richter at the Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1976 to 1982 and has been Professor of Painting at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe since 1990. He was the subject of solo museum exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2006), Josef Albers Museum (2006), Saarland Museum (2006), Carré d'Art - Musée d'art contemporain de Nîmes (1991) and Kunsthalle Bern (1990).

Helmut Dorner, ASML, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 190 x 140 cm

Biography

Education

  • 1976 - 1982

    Staatliche Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, Germany

Professorships

  • Since 1989

    Professor at Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, Germany

Awards

  • 2001

    Hans Thoma Preis

  • 1997

    Prix Eliette von Karajan

  • 1985

    Kunstfond Bonn

  • 1984

    BDI Kunstpreis

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2025

    De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 2024

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 2021

    De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 2020

    Nosbaum Reding, Luxembourg

  • 2019

    Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Kadel Willborn, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 2016 / 2017

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 2014

    Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany

  • 2013

    Kadel Willborn, Karlsruhe, Germany

  • 2011

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium

  • 2010

    Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany

    Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain

  • 2009

    Christian Stein, Milan, Italy

    Galerie Iris Kadel, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Galerie Nelson-Freeman, Paris, France

  • 2008

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 2007

    Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain

  • 2006

    Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland

    Josef Albers Museum, Bottrop, Germany

    Saarland Museum, Saarbrucken, Germany

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 2005

    FRAC Haute-Normandie, Sotteville-les-Rouen, France

    Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain

  • 2004

    Galerie Nelson, Paris, France

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 2003

    Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, USA

  • 2002

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    De 11Lijnen, Oldenburg, Germany

    Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 2001

    Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany

    Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain

  • 2000

    FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

  • 1999

    Brooke Alexander, New York, NY, US

    Galerie Nelson, Paris, France

  • 1998

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 1997

    Herbert von Karajan Centrum, Vienna, Austria

    Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany

  • 1996

    Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany

  • 1995

    Laura Carpenter Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM, US

    Galerie Nelson, Paris, France

  • 1994

    Mercer Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada

    Brooke Alexander, New York, NY, USA

  • 1993

    Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium

    Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf, Germany

  • 1992

    Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Galerie Samia Saouma, Paris, France

  • 1991

    Carré d'Art, Musée d'art contemporain de Nîmes, France

    Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany

  • 1990

    Krefelder Kunstmuseum, Krefeld, Germany

    Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany

  • 1989

    Galerie Nelson, Lyon, France

  • 1988

    Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf, Germany

    Galerie Philippe Casini, Paris, France

  • 1987

    Raum für Malerei, Cologne, Germany

    Galerie Grässlin-Ehrhardt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • 1985

    Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

    Galerie Philippe Casini, Paris, France

  • 1984

    Kunst-und-Museumverein, Wuppertal, Germany

  • 1983

    Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany

Public Collections

  • Belgium

    SMAK - Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent

  • France

    Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

    Carré d’Art Contemporain, Nîmes

  • Germany

    Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken

    Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

    Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe

    Krefelder Kunstmuseum, Krefeld

    Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart

  • Luxembourg

    Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg

  • Mexico

    Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City

  • Spain

    Centre Cultural La Caixa de Pensiones, Barcelona

    Arco Fundacion, Madrid

    Museum Reina Sofia, Madrid

  • Switzerland

    Museum Winterthur, Winterthur

Selected images

Exhibitions