Jens-Helge Dahmen was born in Ludwigsfelde in 1960. He is an electrician, illustrator, and author. He read about the East Side Gallery in a newspaper advertisement and painted the work “Pneumohumanoiden” (Pneumo-humanoids) for it.
The “pneumo-humanoids” in Dahmen’s Wall painting are all wearing respirator masks. They seem to inhabit a toxic environment, portrayed by a withered flower, a radioactivity symbol, and the foggy background. In this way, Dahmen took up the Gallery project organisers’ suggestion to address environmental issues. He anticipated the gradual disappearance of his painting due to graffiti and the concrete wall crumbling.
Dahmen is an electrician, illustrator, and author. He has also written several books on the art of origami. He lives and works in Berlin.