Hannes Helmke Wartender (L) Sculpture

Biography

1967 Born in Heidelberg

1985-88 Apprenticeship as a wood sculptor in Michelstadt

1990-91 Technical baccalaureate with focus on design.

1991-92 Employment in a restoration business

1992-94 Four semesters of interior design at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences

1994-98 Sculpture studies at the Alanus University Alfter, Germany

Freelance in Cologne since 1998

After an apprenticeship as a wood sculptor, Hannes Helmke (born 1967) studied interior design for four semesters as he could no longer identify with classical sculpture. Helmke then wanted to train as an art teacher at the Alanus University for Art and Society in Alfter. There, however, he returned to sculpture and decided to do a postgraduate course in fine art, which he completed in the summer of 1998.

Since then, Hannes Helmke has lived and worked as a freelance sculptor in Cologne. He spends the summer months on the island of Spiekeroog; the naturalness and freedom of daily life there, being in nature, are an important source of strength and inspiration. All his designs are created on Spiekeroog and are realized in bronze in Cologne.