In the 1970s and 80s he was a founding member of the influential neo-expressionist art movement Neue Wilde in Düsseldorf alongside Martin Kippenberger, Markus Lüpertz, and his brother Albert Oehlen.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he played a pivotal role in the emergence of the influential Neue Wilde art movement in Düsseldorf, collaborating with notable artists such as Martin Kippenberger, Markus Lüpertz, and his brother Albert Oehlen.