Oh boy, oh boy! - Richard Helbin mit seinen Werken in der Galerie Biesenbach auf der Schaafenstraße 10, 50676 Köln

Richard Helbin was born in Katowice, Poland, in 1980. From 2002 to 2007, he studied fine arts with a focus on graphic design at Münster University of Applied Sciences. From 2003 to 2012, he worked as a freelancer in the printmaking studio of the Mike Karstens Edition and Gallery in Münster. In 2008–2009, he studied at the Münster Academy of Fine Arts under Daniele Buetti, and from 2010 to 2012 at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts under Siegfried Anzinger, where he graduated as a master student in 2012. Since 2012, he has been a lecturer for special assignments in printmaking and graphic arts at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. From 2012 to 2021, he also held a teaching position in printmaking and drawing at Philipps University of Marburg. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.

In his work, Richard Helbin focuses, among other things, on reviving traditional textile techniques such as bobbin lace-making, embroidery, weaving, and crocheting—techniques that once shaped entire cities and regions but have since lost all economic significance. He transforms these crafts into a contemporary context by, for example, casting crocheted sculptures in bronze or creating meticulously bobbin-laced miniatures. The result is works of art that go far beyond mere craftsmanship: through his unique iconography and deliberate play with contextual meanings, they become socially critical works of art.

In his exhibition “Oh boy, oh boy!,” Helbin weaves these traditional techniques with emotionally charged, queer images of longing, thereby evoking values and ideas that oscillate between nostalgia and social relevance. His works connect the past and the present, craftsmanship and concept, sensuality and critical reflection in multifaceted ways.

From the exhibition text for“And I loved the way you looked at me.”at the Kunstverein Lippstadt by Kathrin Heyer and Erich Franz, 2025