helnwein archive

The exhibition Angels Sleeping is a thematic cross-section, predominantly of the painting work of the Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein (born in Vienna in 1948). The five sections of the exhibition present the fundamental circuits of Helnwein's work. The introduction comprises heads - faces, including the artist's iconic self-portrait, painfully acute metaphors of the limits on freedom of expression in Austria in the 1970s and 80s. The artist's merciless approach to the residues of the Nazi past of his country is a further theme, developed in monochrome, hyperrealistic painting. The central and still extremely relevant theme of Helnwein's work however is das malträtierte Kind, the child exposed to suffering. The author engages with this theme in various positions from his early works from the 1970s up to the present day. His collection of works on this theme is given the largest space.

Helnwein为一般人所知也许皆因为他为曼森专辑所设计的封面和CD彩页。扭曲变形的彩色人面封面和CD所附带的"孩童和枪"的彩页，似乎怀着恶意和颠覆在向一切冷冷微笑。而这一系列的造型设计，成为了后来美国校园枪机案后曼森遭受指责的直接原因。
Helnwein出生于维也纳。1969年到1973年在维也纳Fine Art学院学习油画。观察Helnwein的艺术创作，会发现他的作品有这样几个特点，首先是他的作品集中于表现孩童。他从学院毕业的71年开始到90年代的油画作品大部分都是一些缠着绷带，带着缝线伤口向你诡异微笑的孩童，也许原版的格林童话应该让他来做插图，而NICK CAVE应该采用他的早期油画来做插页，咧开撕裂缝合的嘴角，那是小小的孩子渗入骨髓的恐惧和恶意。他的摄象作品则很多都是儿童的各中头像。有很多也是他油画的模特形象。

This collection of the Austrian artist's work is eye-captivating both due to its quality of subject treatment and media treatment. From afar, the gigantic images look like photographs with their quality of detail and realism. However on closer inspection, fine brushstrokes become discernable, especially in several compositions of anime characters interacting with a blindfolded girl, gun in hand-- you can see the fine array of textures in her hair, her blindfold, and the background.

German artist Neo Rauch's muted, unfinished pastiches circa 1945 create a vague sense of nostalgia for some innocent time gone by ("Spur" 1998 and "Light Rays" 1997) and luckily the DAM has one of his works on display as part of the Modern collection on the 3rd floor of the Hamilton building. Contrasting Rauch's naivete was my favorite piece in the show, Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein's "Epiphany; Adoration of the Magi," a twisted take on the Magi (Wise Men of the East) offering gifts unto baby Jesus, however the Magi are played by Nazi officers and the baby Jesus by an infant Hitler. I found the piece hypnotic and chilling: Helnwein forces us to reconsider that much of the historic religious and military imagery we have been exposed to is just as manipulative as his modern re-appropriation. [Note, both Rauch (9/20) and Helnwein (12/13) will be in Denver speaking as part of the DAM's "Artists on Art" series.]

The Radar exhibit showing Epiphany, the Gottfried Helnwein work, at the Denver Art Museum closes after this weekend.
Fortunately, the DAM is free all weekend, so Colorado residents still have a chance to view the amazing piece.

Rendons à César ce qui est à César, ou plutôt à Gottfried ce qui appartient à Helnwein. Eh oui, le magnifique avatar derrière lequel je cache comme un pleutre ma face veule et fallote de bloggeur anonyme n'est autre qu'un auto-portrait du délirant artiste austro-irlandais Gottfried Helnwein intutilé Night in Shangri-La I.
Vous me direz sans doute : "ton Gottfried Helnwein a l'air d'un vieux soixante-huitard désabusé et froissé". Et je vous répondrai : normal, puisque c'en est un! Il naquit en 1948 à Vienne, capitale culturelle s'il en est, ce qui faisait de lui une proie particulièrement facile, 20 ans plus tard, pour les idées progressistes, la révolution sexuelle et toutes ces insouciantes conneries au patchouli. D'autant plus que le jeune homme suivit à la fin des anneés 60 une formation à l'université d'Art Visuel de Vienne, d'où il ressortit tout de même avec un prestigieux prix. La pente était fatale : il devait devenir un artiste azimuté. Fidèle au précepte socratique d'un fameux philosophe teuton à moustaches, il devint donc ce qu'il était, ce qui est toujours plus facile à dire qu'à faire. Mais Gottfried n'était pas du genre à faire du macramé ou à peindre des grosses fleurs dégueus sur des vans Volkswagen! Non, lui son trip du moment, c'était plutôt les peintures hyper-réalistes représentant des enfants mutilés. Chacun son truc, hein...

"Donald Duck ... and the duck became human" is the title of the exhibition about the drawings and poetic work of Carl Barks at the Caricature Museum Krems (Lower Austria) from 25 March to 4 November 2007. Barks, who is one of the most eminent American artists of the 20th century, was a leading cartoonist of Walt Disney.
The about 250 works displayed in Krems are loans from international private collections. They include rare original pages of comic books, personal letters as well as the desk of the artist. The exhibition was conceived exclusively for the Caricature Museum Krems by Gottfried Helnwein. This is the first time that Bark's body of work is presented in Austria.

The Denver Art Museum's year-long lecture series, which features a lineup of major international contemporary artists with works on view in the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, concludes with Gottfried Helnwein.
Helnwein's hyperrealistic style seems perfectly suited to his sense of being a "witness" to his times: "That's my duty, my responsibility," he has said, adding that one role of art is to 'force people to look at things they would rather not look at."

His early work consists mainly of hyper-realistic watercolors, depicting wounded children, as well as performances - often with children - in public spaces. Helnwein is a conceptual artist, concerned primarily with psychological and sociological anxiety, historical issues and political topics. As a result of this, his work is often considered provocative and controversial.
Helnwein's subject matter involves the complexities of the human condition. His disturbing yet provocative images of physically and emotionally wounded children have been seen as metaphors for larger global issues. He portrays the innocence of adolescence against the backdrop of historical events like the Holocaust to highlight the fragility of humanity in an unstable world.

Born in Austria (1948), Helnwein now lives between Ireland and the USA and has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. In an internationally acclaimed career, which has spanned over 30 years, Helnwein has produced work in a range of media including painting, drawing, photography, performance, large-scale public installations, set design and film. Well known for his provocative imagery, Helnwein's earlier work referenced Nazi Europe. Major exhibitions of Helnwein's work have been held worldwide, most recently at the Lentos Museum of Modern Art, Linz and at The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.