Guerrillas in the Midst

COURTESY MARIANNE BOESKY, NEW YORK

“I had someone come in and say, ‘Wow, the world’s caught up with your work,’” says Brooklyn-based draftsman Adam Helms. “It wasn’t meant as a compliment.” Since 1998, Helms has redrawn images found on the Internet and from vintage ephemera featuring young men in militaristic poses. For his solo show opening in October at Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York, the 36-year-old artist took inspiration from painter Gerhard Richter’s 48 photo-realistic portraits done in 1972 of the “great men of Western civilization.” Helms’ charcoal version features individuals from the political right and left—a Mexican police officer in a balaclava, a Spanish convert to Islam, Colombian guerillas, Chechen rebels, Peruvian Maoists, IRA members—all of them eagerly self-identifying as outlaws and antagonists in our current global high-noon. More info at marianneboesky.com