Gottfried Helnwein Info

Helnwein's realization of the final scene takes the breath away: a view of dozens of bloodied children's bodies, some of them hanging, some of them turning over and over in mid-air, as a vocal ensemble sings their words while kneeling on stage.
This vision connects eerily with an exhibition in the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre plaza, adapted from one the Austrian designer mounted in Cologne in 1988, marking the 50th anniversary of the Nazis' anti-Jewish Kristallnacht. It shows two rows of innocent, haunted-looking child's faces, one row with eyes open; the other with eyes closed, lined up as if in a concentration camp (Selektion is the exhibit's title).

"Helnwein - The Silence Of Innocence" (Claudia Schmid, Germany 2008, 116 min), has been selected for the 24th international Munich Documentary Filmfestival.
Uncompromising, shocking images that bore deep into our collective subconscious and confront our greatest fears – the unihibited creative talent of artist Gottfried Helnwein.

"Helnwein is the next generation's final ally, a skilled provocateur forcing us to confront the legacy we have bequeathed upon our children. Helnwein is our chronicler, our conscience, the antidote to our failing memories. He refuses to let us forget."

Colin Berry
Artweek, California, 2004

Works by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein are now to be seen in the Rudolfinum Gallery on the exhibition entitled Angels sleeping. He is a phenomenon in a field of hyperrealistic painting. Working in a technique of oil and acrylic painting, he makes extremely precise canvases of a big measure, based on photographs. Their topics are taken from history as well as from pop-culture and he also often deals with theme of a child in extreme situations. The realistic look of painting is startling; he is very precise and technically extremely skilful. But the paintings look bit too strange... well, but I let you to make your opinion on your own, after the visit of the exhibition.

FACE IT - Gottfried Helnwein
Museum of Modern Art Linz, 2006
Erste museale Werkschau des österreichischen Künstlers, der seit Mitte der 1980er Jahre zunächst in Deutschland gelebt hat und heute in Los Angeles und Irland ansässig ist. Die Ausstellung im grossen Saal des Museums zeigt Werke aus allen Schaffensperioden seit den frühen 1970er Jahren. Dabei steht das Thema des menschlichen Gesichts im Mittelpunkt, mit dem Helnwein sich in mehr als drei Jahrzehnten künstlerischer Arbeit auseinander gesetzt hat.

Texte: Thomas Edlinger, Stella Rollig, Nava Semel

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.

Konsequent und virtuos. Technische Meisterschaft und auch die Konsequenz einer packenden sozialkritischen Thematik offenbaren sich in dieser Ausstellung: Gewalt, Schmerz, Verletzung werden dargestellt. Den Körper ebenso wie die Psyche betreffend. Helnwein dokumentiert hier in Linz einen künstlerischen Reifegrad, der eine weitere Steigerung kaum vorstellbar macht. Seine Eingriffe sind von einer schmerzhaften Unmittelbarkeit, deren emotionale Energie weit über die großen Bildformate hinaus den Raum und sein Publikum ergreift. (Irene Judmayer - Oberösterreichische Nachrichten)

"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.

"Malerei muss sein wie Rockmusik, Gottfried Helnwein im Gespräch mit Andreas Mäckler" ist das ausführlichste Interview, das der Künstler bisher gegeben hat. Der Kunsthistoriker Andreas Maeckler hat Helnwein über viele Tage befragt und herausgekommen ist dabei eines der aufregendsten und ungewöhnlichsten Künstlerinterviews, die ich kenne. Es gibt kaum einen deutschsprachiger Künstler der Nachkriegszeit der so provokativ und umstritten ist, und dessen Werk so sehr polarisiert. Er ist von der Presse attakiert worden, seine Arbeiten fielen der Zensur zum Opfer und wurden beschlagnahmt.
Aber es gab auch andere, vor allem Künstlerkollegen und Schriftsteller, die enthusiastisch für ihn Partei ergriffen haben, wie Norman Mailer, William S. Burroughs, Wolfgang Bauer oder Heiner Müller, der gesagt hat: "Wie hält ein freundlicher Mensch wie Helnwein es aus, seine exzellente - Malerei zum Spiegel der Schrecken des Jahrhunderts zu machen? Oder hält er es einfach nicht aus, das nicht zu tun?"