Helmut Schmidt Rhen

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Helmut Schmidt Rhen (born September 7, 1936 in Cologne ) is a German concrete art painter , communication designer and university lecturer . With Christian Chruxin and Wolfgang Schmidt, he is one of the outstanding systematic designers of the Kassel School , poster art, book and magazine graphics.

life and work

After training as a publishing bookseller, he studied graphics with Hans Hillmann and painting with Arnold Bode from 1957 to 1960 at the Staatliche Werkakademie Kassel .

For the Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen, Schmidt Rhen designed a poster concept for the changing exhibitions on his own initiative in 1960 and thus convinced the museum director. “Without knowing the director of the museum udo kultermann , i presented my designs to him. he was enthusiastic and gave me the order. "

After completing his studies, Schmidt Rhen worked as a graphic designer and art director at GGK in Basel from 1961 . In 1965 he moved from Basel to Cologne and worked as an art director for the business magazine 'Capital'.

For the Cologne City Libraries he developed a comprehensive visual appearance and the literary magazine 'LiK' (Literature in Cologne) on 'mustard yellow' paper. The 11th International Biennial for Commercial Graphics in Brno , CSSR, awarded a silver medal to 'LiK' in 1984.

From 1968 to 1973 Schmidt Rhen was a lecturer in graphic design at the Werkkunstschule Düsseldorf (later the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences ), and from 1976 to 1993 he was professor for communication design at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. In the same year he was appointed to the AGI ( Alliance Graphique Internationale ) and was a member until 1994. During his teaching activities, he and student project groups developed the design guidelines for the visual appearance of the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences and, in 1979, a magazine in the design department of the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, the now legendary ' OETZ' . Between 1979 and 1987, students and teachers wrote, designed and produced a total of 17 issues. With his 'Poetry of Systematics' Schmidt Rhen set standards during his teaching activities in the design disciplines of posters, magazines, journals and appearance.

Between 1984 and 1988 he created his 'street prints', prints of manhole covers, directly from the street. Schmidt Rhen discovered a cast-iron printing block with recessed and raised surfaces in an ordinary 'gully' - a cliché that was used in letterpress printing to reproduce images. 33 motifs in black, blue, yellow or red in four formats on three different types of paper were created.

Schmidt Rhen co-founded the Typography Forum in 1984 together with Gerd Fleischmann , Hermann Schlieper, Erik Spiekermann and Hans Peter Willberg .

Helmut Schmidt Rhen is a graphic artist - he describes his extensive design activity as visual design - and a painter. His applied graphic and his free artistic work are closely linked from the start. With this artistic attitude, he and Wolfgang Schmidt , Karl Gerstner and Anton Stankowski are among those creative border crossers who have always been at home in both creative worlds. A recurring theme of 'superimposition' already plays a role in his award-winning poster “Art according to Reality” ( MoMA design collection , New York) from 1973 and can still be seen in his series of pictures 'Transition' or 'Matrix'.

In addition to his 'purposeful work' for GGK, constructive serial paintings, self-images and self-notes were created as 'purposeless works' during his time in Basel. At GGK and for the agency owners Gerstner, Gredinger and Kutter, art was “not a means of distraction, as in corporate collections, but an integral part of the self-image.” “In the partnership with Gerstner and in the collaboration with the graphic artists, Gredinger came back with painters or - better said - together with picture makers. ”Wrote Markus Kutter in“ Matters and Private Matters ”, in his“ Notes from Switzerland ”. And by the graphic artists, Schmidt Rhen and Paul Talman were meant. Schmidt Rhen had a close friendship with Paul Talman.

Helmut Schmidt Rhen has lived in Hamburg with his wife Doris Hartmann since 1994. In his studio he plays his serious game with system and chance, with shape and color, with language and sequence, in constructive images and serial experiments. The painter Schmidt Rhen methodically explores the world of form and color in his 'laboratory visuell'. Monk jazz, systematic order and controlled chance accompany him on his research trips. Schmidt Rhen's pictures are based on strict rules of the game, but the eye always decides, the eye always has the last word.

Exhibitions

  • 1959: Situations '60, Galerie Kassel
  • 1963: Schrift & Bild, Baden-Baden and Amsterdam
  • 1966: Galerie Thelen, Essen and Moscow
  • 1979: A poster is an area that catches the eye, Frankfurt am Main and Kassel
  • 1998: Poetry of Systematics, Art Association Gütersloh
  • 1999: buks book constructions, ZKM Karlsruhe , Berlin and Paris
  • 1999: two to the power of two, Galerie Vismara arte, Milan
  • 2000: The Poetry of the Concrete, Art Library Staatliche Museen zu Berlin , Berlin
  • 2000: Gray is not gray, Galerie Gisèle Linder , Basel
  • 2002: an / aus / sichten, Galerie Hoffmann , Friedberg
  • 2003: homage to the square, Galerie Hoffmann , Friedberg
  • 2004: 20 Years, Galerie Gisèle Linder , Basel
  • 2006: Primavera, Renate Kammer Gallery, Hamburg
  • 2007: hand & foot and other secrets ..., Galerie Hoffmann, Friedberg
  • 2008: Painting, Konrad Mönter Gallery, Meerbusch
  • 2018: Street prints , 9k gallery , Willich

Collections / museums

Publications

  • Roland Henß et al: poetry of systematics - design: schmidt rhen. Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 1996, ISBN 3-87439-392-5 .
  • Jörg Stürzebecher: two to the power of two. Vismara arte gallery, Milan 1999.
  • helmut schmidt rhen: painting. Texts and pictures. Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, 2008, ISBN 978-3-923669-91-2 .
  • Interview with Helmut Schmidt Rhen, 2009: https://vimeo.com/16994336

literature

  • Karl Gerstner: Pendenzen 62. In: Journal »Werk«. Zurich 1/1962.
  • Hans Hillmann, Gunter Rambow: A poster is an area that catches the eye. Posters from the Kassel School. Two thousand and one, Frankfurt am Main 1979, DNB 790658917 .
  • Friedrich Friedl: Theses on Typography. Linotype GmbH, Eschborn 1985.
  • Stuart Wrede: The modern poster. Museum of Modern Art, New York 1988, ISBN 0-87070-570-9 .
  • Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott, Bernard Stein: Typography. When, who, how. Könemann, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-89508-473-5 .
  • Anita Kühnel: The poetry of the concrete - posters and graphics of the Kassel school. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-88609-445-6 .
  • Helmut Schmid: typography today. Seibundo Shinkosha, Tokyo 2003, ISBN 4-416-60302-9 .
  • Lucienne Roberts: Drip-dry shirts. The evolution of the graphic designer. AVA Publishing, Lausanne 2005, ISBN 2-940373-08-6 .
  • Julia Meer: Structured creativity instead of gridded boredom. The variable order behind the work of Christian Chruxin, Wolfgang Schmidt and Helmut Schmidt Rhen. In: Petra Hesse, René Spitz (eds.): System Design. Over 100 years of chaos in everyday life. Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3981134292

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roland Henß et al .: Poetry of systematics - design: schmidt rhen . 1st edition. Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 1996, ISBN 3-87439-392-5 , p. 256 .
  2. ↑ Peter von Kornatzki: Attempts at the possibilities - The design theory . In: Ulrike Gauss (Ed.): Stankowski 06, Aspects of the Complete Works . 1st edition. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2006, ISBN 978-3-7757-1743-4 , pp. 35 .
  3. ↑ Jörg Stürzebecher: The design of the revolt . In: Design Report . tape 5 , 2008.
  4. ↑ Helmut Schmidt Rhen: Art according to reality. 1973, Retrieved October 13, 2018 .
  5. ^ Jörg Stürzebecher: Obituary for Karl Gerstner. In: form, Design Magazine. Verlag form, accessed on October 13, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Markus Kutter: Things and private things . Walter-Verlag, Olten 1964, p. 133 .
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt Rhen, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German concrete art painter, communication designer and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne