Helmut Barnett

Helmut Barnett Description

Helmut Barnett (b. 1946, Germany)

Helmut Barnett has been exhibiting his work for 50 years in over 100 exhibitions all over the United States and in Japan. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, his family moved to Kansas in 1957. When he was serving as an Air Force radar technician, he visited Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts at age 20 and discovered his true calling. When his eyes locked on Dutch painter Jan Asselijn’s The Threatened Swan, it ignited a desire in him to become an artist, no matter the odds.

The work he makes are largescale paintings with oil and acrylic on canvas and smaller mixed media drawings on paper. Barnett uses acrylic, oil, charcoal, collage, and solvent transfer. Some works are quick and spontaneous while others are planned, with a drawing mapping out shapes before moving to the painting process. Barnett says, “These abstract paintings range from large to smaller canvases. While most people consider smaller work to be intimate, I find the opposite to be true because I believe that the larger paintings are more immersive."

When one inspects a Barnett work up close, they will notice the remnants of planning lines made with pencil. These ghosts of past marks give the viewer an insight to the way he works before realizing the final piece.

Barnett moves with ease from media to media, sometimes using collaged elements and image transfers as the ground for his floating and spiraling shapes. Let’s look at the mixed media piece, Today’s Stories. Text can be read from these collaged sections, although quiet, it influences how the piece is read, and the viewer can gain insight into Barnett and his life.

While he was in the Air Force, he would voraciously read books on art and history. Greek history was a favorite of his, whose influence can still be seen today as Greek imagery and figurative forms often flit through the compositions.

The painting, Gift of the Nile, is constructed of extraordinarily clean shapes and lines. The beige ground is even all over except when it blends in with the red and the orange to create a gradient. A familiar feeling of a landscape comes through with the “dune-like” setting paired with the title. The blue on the right side of the composition reads as water tucked into a shallow basin.

In his use of color, Helmut has a reverence for each pigment and its unique property. They are like friends that work together but are never overpowered by the other. There is a delicate force and transparency in each stroke. Helmut’s black and white pieces on the other hand, are a stunning array of fluid lines, shapes that are not abstract, but according to Helmut are “unobstructed.” They are musical and reveal the flow of a generous and delightful personage.

The artist lives in Austin, Texas with his wife. He enjoys his large home studio and works in it every day.

Helmut Barnett Statement

"Some paintings are dashed off quickly to maintain the spontaneity, while others are carefully planned and executed. There is merit in both. These abstract paintings range from large to smaller canvases. While most people consider smaller work to be intimate, I find the opposite to be true because I believe that the larger paintings are more immersive." - Helmut Barnett

Helmut Barnett Resumé

EDUCATION

 1973   BFA in Studio Art, BA in Humanities, University of Texas at Austin, Texas

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2022    Bender Gallery, Asheville NC

2021    Bender Gallery, Asheville NC

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

2020    Bender Gallery, Asheville NC

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2019    Bender Gallery, Asheville NC

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2018    Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

2017    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2016    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2015    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2014    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2013    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2012    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

2011    David Dike Fine Art, Dallas TX

            Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

            Miller Gallery, Cincinnati OH

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

            Texas Art 2011: Juried Show - Assistance League, Houston TX

2010    Two Man Show, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio

            Miller Gallery, Cincinnati OH

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

            Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

2009    Miller Gallery, Cincinnati OH

            Joan Wich Gallery, Houston TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

            Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

2008     Joan Wich Gallery, Houston TX - Solo Exhibition

             Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

              5x7 Show, Arthouse, Austin TX

             Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

             Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

2007     Group Show, Joan Wich Gallery, Houston TX

            Joan Wich Gallery, Houston TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

            Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

 2006    Group Show, Cerulean Gallery, Dallas TX

             Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

             Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

             Biennial Southwest, The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque NM

2005    Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

           Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago IL

           Amarillo Biennial 600 DRAWING, Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo TX

           Red Hot Show, Women and Their Work Gallery, Austin TX

           5 x 7 Show, Arthouse, Austin TX

2004    Gremillion and Co., Houston, Dallas and Austin TX

2003    Gremillion and Co., Houston, Dallas and Austin TX

            40, Group Show, Gremillion and Co., Houston  TX

2002    Gremillion and Co., Houston, Dallas and Austin TX

            Chairs, Concordia University, Austin TX

2001    Gremillion and Co., Houston, Dallas and Austin TX

            Organic Geometry, One Man Show, Gremillion and Co., Austin TX

2000    Gremillion and Co., Houston, Dallas and Austin TX

1999    Gremillion and Co., Houston and Austin TX

             Art in the Garden, Women and Their Work Gallery, Austin TX

1998    Retablos Show, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin TX

            Gremillion and Co., Houston, Texas; Atlanta TX

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

1997    Retablos Show, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin TX

            Gremillion and Co., Houston, Texas; Atlanta GA

            Wally Workman Gallery, Austin TX

1996    Gremillion and Co., Houston TX

             Group Show, Women and Their Work Gallery, Austin TX

1995    Gremillion and Co., Houston TX

             The Red Hot Show, Texas Fine Arts Association (TFAA), Austin TX

1994    Gremillion and Co., Houston TX

            Martin-Rathburn Gallery, San Antonio TX

            Small Works, TRAX, Austin TX

            Memory and Desire, The Window: TFAA, Austin TX

            Transformations Women and Their Work Gallery, Austin TX

1993    Helmut Barnett/Ron Binks, Martin-Rathburn Gallery, San Antonio TX

            Visual Arts Alliance Tenth Annual Exhibition, Houston TX

            Off the Map, TFAA, Austin TX

            Amdur Gallery, Austin TX

1992    Primarily Paint, TFAA, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin TX

            Aspects of Memory, San Antonio Art Institute, San Antonio TX - Solo Exhibition

            Martin-Rathburn Gallery, San Antonio TX

            Annex Gallery, San Diego CA

            Amdur Gallery, Austin TX

1991    Tri-State 1991, Beaumont Art League, Beaumont TX

            Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Bradley University, Peoria IL

            Visual Arts Alliance 8th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Houston TX

            Annex Gallery, San Diego CA

            Amdur Gallery, Austin TX

1990    Amdur Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

            Air Gallery, Austin TX

           R.S. Levy Gallery, Austin TX

           The Door Show, TFAA, Austin TX

          Chain Reaction, Austin Visual Arts Association, Austin TX

          Fertile Imaginations, Women and Their Work Gallery, Austin TX

         James Gallery, Houston TX

         Annex Gallery, San Diego CA

         Mirage Gallery, Albuquerque NM

1989     Air Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition

            Art at Large (Billboard Competition), Laguna Gloria Art Museum, AVAA, Patrick Media Group, Austin TX

           Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo TX

          James/Schubert Gallery, Houston TX

          Annex Gallery, San Diego CA

1988    Black and White Show, Air Gallery, Austin TX

            James/Schubert Gallery, Houston TX

            Annex Gallery, San Diego CA

1987    Nave Museum, Victoria TX

            Texas Inaugural Art Exhibit, UT Austin James/Schubert Gallery, Houston TX

             PRO-JEX Gallery, Austin TX

1986    James/Schubert Gallery, Houston TX - Solo Exhibition

             Amdur Gallery, Austin TX

             New American Talent, TFAA, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin TX (Peter Plagens, Juror)

             New American Talent, TFAA Tour, Austin TX

1985    Invitational Show (Works on Paper) SOHO Gallery, Austin, Texas

             The 11th International Independents Exhibition of Prints in Kanagawa 1985, Kanagawa   Prefectural Gallery, Japan

             Kathleen Behbehani Fine Art, Inc., Houston TX

1984    Amdur Gallery, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition   

           Kathleen Behbehani Fine Art, Inc., Houston TX

1983    SOHO Gallery, Austin TX

            Graphic Concern Galleries, Austin TX

            Art Museum of South Texas, Second Annual Exhibition, Corpus Christi TX

            Eagles Nest Gallery, Austin TX

           One Man Show, Amdur Gallery, Austin TX

           Kathleen Behbehani Fine Art Inc., Houston TX

1982    One Man Show, Amdur Gallery, Austin TX

            Kathleen Behbehani Fine Art, Inc., Houston TX

            Garner and Smith Gallery, Austin TX

            The Market Place Gallery, Corpus Christi TX

            Mattingly Baker Gallery, Dallas TX

1981    Robinson Galleries, Houston TX

1980    Robinson Galleries, Houston TX

1979    National Print Exhibit, Austin TX

            Austin Contemporary Art Exhibit, Austin TX

            Watercolor USA, Springfield MO

1978    Art Rental and Sales Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL

1977    16th Annual Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibit, Peoria IL

             66th Annual Exhibit, TFAA, Austin TX

1976    Spokane National Drawing Competition, Spokane WA

             Tenth Annual National Drawing and Small Sculpture Show, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi TX

             S.P.A.R. National, Shreveport LA (Elaine de Kooning, Juror)

             38th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Society of Four Arts, Palm Beach FL

            65th Annual Exhibit, TFAA, Austin TX

1974    American National Bank, Austin TX - Solo Exhibition   

1973    Three Rooms Gallery, Austin TX

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas