Eleni Koroneou Gallery is pleased to present Nocturama, an exhibition by Helmut Middendorf featuring paintings and works on paper from the 1980s and the 1990s.
The paintings from the 1990s, exhibited here for the first time, form a series of self-portraits imbued with Middendorf’s characteristically raw and immediate energy. They create a vivid, psychologically charged constellation of faces, each pushing the expressive limits of color and gesture. Some appear as double portraits, where two heads share the same frame, their features overlapping or echoing one another. This doubling heightens a sense of movement, introspection, and internal dialogue.
Across many works, bold, mask-like features dominate—wide eyes, sharply modeled noses, and mouths that hover between stillness and expression. The frequent use of red on the nose or face introduces a visceral accent, suggesting heat, intensity, or a theatrical trace reminiscent of nightlife, disguise, or performance. High-contrast palettes, from deep blues to searing reds and yellows, give the faces an electric, almost feverish presence. Several portraits include words and fragments of text that function not as messages but as visual rhythm, charging the image with an urban, nocturnal edge. Together, these portraits operate as emotional states made visible, conveying the immediacy of experience and the multiplicity of the self.
The works on paper from the same era, capture the charged atmosphere of the night as it unfolded in the artist’s immediate surroundings—Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, where Middendorf lived and worked. They revolve around the human figure and its immersion in music, nightlife, and the raw energy of the streets. Created with spontaneity and urgency, these compositions pulse with luminous, high-contrast color and sweeping gestural brushstrokes. Their aim was intensity: to translate the force of lived experience into an equally forceful visual language.
Helmut Middendorf was born in 1953 in Dinklage, Germany. He lives and works in Berlin and Athens. In the 80s, he was part of the famous group “Neue Wilde” in Berlin. His work has been shown internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including participations in: “Berlin SO36 Revisited”, Hall Art Foundation, Kunstmuseum Schloss Derneburg (2022); “The 80s. Art of the Eighties”, Albertina Modern, Wien (2021); Galerie Sophie Scheidecker, Paris (2020); “Before the fall of the wall”, ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Aarhus (2019); “Wilderness”, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2018); “The Invention of the Neue Wilde”, Ludwig Forum, Aachen (2018); “The Flâneur”, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn (2018); “Innen_Welten”, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel (2018); “Colorful. farbenfroh – Im Fokus: Dorothy Fratt”, Museum Art.Plus, Donaueschingen (2018); “Neue Wilde”, Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands (2016), Städel Museum, Frankfurt (2015); “Geniale Dilletanten”, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Albertinum, Dresden (2017); Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (2016), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2015); “Kunst in Berlin 1945 bis Heute”, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin (2013); “Chambres d’ Amis – Collectiepresentatie”, S.M.A.K., Gent, Belgium (2012); “Schlachtpunk Malerei der 80er Jahre”, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany (2012); “The Last Grand Tour”, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens (2011); “40 Jahre Gegenwart” Deutsche Bank – Collection, Luxembourg (2010); “Neoexpressionistic paintings from Berlin: Gift of Susan and Martin Sanders, New York”, Museum of Modern Art Tel Aviv, Israel (2010).
Middendorf’s works are included in over 30 Museum Collections worldwide, as Guggenheim Museum, New York; ARoS Museum, Aarhus, Denmark; Musée Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt; SMAK, Museum voor Hedendagse Kunst, Gent, Belgium and in private collections.
