1983 was the first year in which paintings by Volker Stelzmann were shown in Lenbachhaus. The courage to convert East German art into something exhibitable in the West was evident at the exhibit 'Art from the German Democratic Republic - an Overview'. Expressionism was frowned upon in the GDR, 'Neue Sachlichkeit' (New Objectivity) tolerated. Erich Ockert, Rudolf Nehmer and Hans Körnig were working in Dresden, Stelzmann's birthplace. A new light is shed on this in retrospect. In 1925, the term 'Neue Sachlichkeit' was coined at an exhibit in Mannheim. Simultaneously, the 'Neue Gruppe von 1925' (New Group of 1925) came into being in Dresden, with painters such as Guhr and Lührig. Otto Dix had taken on an exemplary character over the course of time.

In 1986 Stelzmann still lived in Leipzig. He had hardly had the opportunity to travel before, making his trip to Italy and immediate experiences there all the more overwhelming. The architecture, light effects and local color - these were what caught his interest. He experienced the entire range of Italian art through his travels. In order to take it in, he studied the compositional elements of figure painting in Mannerism and the Renaissance. Though a closer look at his art will reveal a mixture with an immediate contemporary style: punk-rockers with their sunglasses at the descent from the cross, the marginal elements outside the system in West Berlin as well as Leipzig. Stelzmann attempts to hold up a sort of mirror in reaction to both contemporary street scenes and traditional art. The images surrounding the main elements of the painting develop into a portrait of society. Stelzmann's motifs encompass characteristics of frugality as well as desire, from the self-portrait to prostitution, from the ideological genre painting to the veiled illustration of contemporary issues. Parting from Leipzig was not easy for Stelzmann. At this time he creates series such as 'Versuchung' (Temptation), 'Werkstatt' (Studio), 'Grabtragung' (Funeral Procession) and 'Auferstehung' (Resurrection). He now holds the position of professor at the West Berlin Art Institute. East-West should quite soon become relative values, ideologies will be seen in another light, boundaries will dissipate. To eliminate the boundaries between the old and new masters, to allow artworks from across the centuries to fuse - this is Stelzmann's art. ek