Mercedes Helnwein

Last updated

Mercedes Helnwein (born November 12, 1979) is an artist, writer and filmmaker. [1] She was born in Vienna, Austria and primarily lives and works in Los Angeles. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Helnwein was born in Vienna, Austria. [1] Her father is Austro-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein. [4] [5] She and her brothers, Cyril, Ali, and Wolfgang Amadeus, often modeled for their father's work as children, [6] whose works often included nightmarish depictions of war and exploitation. [7] As children, Mercedes and her siblings were given the freedom to express themselves, and she developed a style distinctively hers. [7]

Art

Helnwein has no formal art training, [8] but, growing up, she interacted with art figures such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring through her father's connections. [1] She creates large-scale drawings, most of which are done with black pencil, colored pencils, or pastels. [8] Helnwein's art debuted in 2000, [7] with one of her first group exhibitions curated in Downtown Los Angeles by actor Jason Lee. [9] In 2007 Helnwein's New York solo exhibition debut, Untitled (Self-Portrait With Ribbon) at Bespoke Gallery. [10] Rachel Wolff, writing for Vulture, suggested Helnwein's "immaculately executed drawings play out like dramatically lit, attractively cast indie flicks." [10]

Helnwein has exhibited over ten solo exhibits and over a dozen group exhibits. [2] In 2005, Damien Hirst acquired Helnwein's collections "East of Eden," "Strange Days," and "Whistling Past the Graveyard" which were then presented at A Gallery in London. [9] [11] The Molesworth Gallery hosted its first solo exhibit of Helnwein's work in 2007. [12] The Molesworth Gallery hosted its second solo exhibit of Helnwein's work in 2009, "Whistling past the graveyard." [13] Helnwein's "Temptation to be Good," a series of drawings in oil pastels, was exhibited at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in 2010, [11] and in 2012, Helnwein's work was again shown at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in her solo show, "Make It Dark." [9] The Molesworth Gallery, in 2014, exhibited Helnwein's "No Way Home," [14] [15] and it also made available her monograph of the same name. [14] [16] In 2017, Edward Hopper House held a solo exhibit of Helnwein's oil pastel, "Chaos Theory." [17] [18] [19]

Helnwein also contributed art for stickers included in Beck's 2006 album, The Information . [20]

Writing

In 2004, Helnwein's travelogue, "Devil Got Religion," covered the 15-day road trip with Alex Prager and Beth Riesgraf for their "America Motel" installation. [4] In 2008 her debut novel, The Potential Hazards of Hester Day, was published by Simon & Schuster. [21] [22]

Discussing her 2021 novel, Slingshot, Helnwein says, "The secrets of suburbia, the surface fakeness, have always been interesting to me." [7] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James McNeill Whistler</span> American painter (1834–1903)

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Rego</span> Portuguese visual artist (1935–2022)

Dame Maria Paula Figueiroa Rego was a Portuguese-British visual artist, widely considered the pre-eminent woman artist of the late 20th and early 21st century, known particularly for her paintings and prints based on storybooks. Rego's style evolved from abstract towards representational, and she favoured pastels over oils for much of her career. Her work often reflects feminism, coloured by folk-themes from her native Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gottfried Helnwein</span> Austrian-Irish visual artist

Gottfried Helnwein is an Austrian-Irish visual artist. He has worked as a painter, draftsman, photographer, muralist, sculptor, installation and performance artist, using a wide variety of techniques and media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Boyd</span> Australian painter (1920–1999)

Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd was a leading Australian painter of the middle to late 20th century. Boyd's work ranges from impressionist renderings of Australian landscape to starkly expressionist figuration, and many canvases feature both. Several famous works set Biblical stories against the Australian landscape, such as The Expulsion (1947–48), now at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Having a strong social conscience, Boyd's work deals with humanitarian issues and universal themes of love, loss and shame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Hester</span> Australian artist (1920–1960)

Joy St Clair Hester was an Australian artist. She was a member of the Angry Penguins movement and the Heide Circle who played an integral role in the development of Australian Modernism. Hester is best known for her bold and expressive ink drawings. Her work was charged with a heightened awareness of mortality due to the death of her father during her childhood, the threat of war, and her personal experience with Hodgkin's disease. Hester is most well known for the series Face, Sleep, and Love (1948–49) as well as the later works, The Lovers (1956–58).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Schorr</span> American painter

Todd Schorr is an American artist and member of the "Lowbrow" art movement or pop surrealism. Combining a cartoon influenced visual vocabulary with a highly polished technical ability, based on the exacting painting methods of the Old Masters, Schorr weaves intricate narratives that are often biting yet humorous in their commentary on the human condition.

<i>Nighthawks</i> (Hopper) 1942 painting by Edward Hopper

Nighthawks is a 1942 oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist Edward Hopper that portrays four people in a downtown diner late at night as viewed through the diner's large glass window. The light coming from the diner illuminates a darkened and deserted urban streetscape.

Camille Rose Garcia is a California-based lowbrow/pop surrealism artist. She produces paintings in a gothic, "creepy" cartoon style. She cites her influences to be Walt Disney and Philip K. Dick.

Kent Robert Williams is an American painter and graphic novel artist.

Dean Karr is an American photographer and director. A prolific creative, Karr has photographed dozens of album covers and directed a substantial amount of music videos, commercials, and films.

The Merry Karnowsky Gallery was founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by Merry Karnowsky. It is located on South La Brea Avenue in the Mid-City West district of Central Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Brunetti</span> American artist

Erik Brunetti is an American artist, designer, director and founder of the lifestyle and clothing brand FUCT.

Niall McCormack is an Irish painter. Since the 1980s, he exhibited in England, Italy, France, Sweden, the US, and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Molesworth Gallery</span>

The Molesworth Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Simkins</span> American painter

Greg "Craola" Simkins is an American artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beatrice Whistler</span> British artist and designer (1857–1896)

Beatrice Whistler was born in Chelsea, London on 12 May 1857. She was the eldest daughter of ten children of the sculptor John Birnie Philip and Frances Black. She studied art in her father's studio and with Edward William Godwin who was an architect-designer. On 4 January 1876 she became the second wife of Edward Godwin. Following the death of Godwin, Beatrice married James McNeill Whistler on 11 August 1888.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Gurteen de la Poer</span>

Gurteen de la Poer, or Gurteen le Poer, is an Elizabethan Revival house in County Waterford, Ireland, situated on the south bank of the River Suir, close to Kilsheelan and about 8 km east of Clonmel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nalini Cheriel</span> American singer

Nalini "Deedee" Cheriel is a visual artist, musician and filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lezley Saar</span> African American artist (born 1953)

Lezley Irene Saar is an African American artist whose artwork is responsive to race, gender, female identity, and her ancestral history. Her works are primarily mixed media, 3-dimensional, and oil & acrylic on paper and canvas. Through her artistic practice Lezley explores western and non-western concepts of beauty, feminist psychology and spirituality. Many works conjure elements of magical realism. She has exhibited widely in the U.S. and internationally. Her work is included in museum collections such as The Kemper Museum, CAAM, The Ackland Art Museum, the Smith College Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem and MOCA. She is currently represented by Walter Maciel Gallery in Los Angeles and Various Small Fires in Asia.

Laura Elizabeth Rachel Troubridge was a British diarist, letter-writer, artist and illustrator. A professional artist from an aristocratic background, she was known for her portraits of Queen Victoria and her family, and paintings of children and fairy subjects, generally in watercolour and pastel. Her book illustrations were admired by Oscar Wilde and Charles Dodgson. In 1966, her journals, giving an insight into Victorian life; and in 2000 correspondence with her fiancé during the period of their engagement, were published.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mercedes Helnwein". Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Contemporary Authors. Gale. 2009 – via Gale Literature Resource Center.
  2. 1 2 Gelt, Jessica (October 16, 2011). "The Helnwein siblings' artful life in L.A." . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Mercedes Helnwein: Temptation to be Good". Juxtapoz . December 30, 2013. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Gelt, Jessica (April 8, 2004). "Rooms with a view of America's heartland". Los Angeles Times . pp. E.16. ProQuest   421889092. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  5. ↑ Haramis, Nick (November 13, 2007). "The New Literary Enfant Terrible: Mercedes Helnwein". BlackBook . Archived from the original on February 9, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  6. ↑ Haramis, Nicholas (December 7, 2014). "The Helnweins Will See You Now". The New York Times Magazine . pp. 146, 148, 150. ISSN   0028-7822. ProQuest   1634180871.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Lynch, Dónal (October 29, 2021). "Mercedes Helnwein: 'It almost feels like walking into a painting. It's mind-blowingly beautiful and it will always be home'". Irish Independent . Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Parentela, Claudio (June 15, 2007). "Interview with Mercedes Helnwein". The Extra Finger. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Dugas, Keith (November 20, 2012). "People Are Strange: Mercedes Helnwein's 'Make It Dark' at Merry Karnowsky Gallery". Cartwheel Art. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Wolff, Rachel (July 3, 2007). "Making Cindy Sherman Proud". Vulture . Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Seidler, Heather (June 21, 2011). "Ladygunn Surprise Issue: Mercedes Helnwein". Ladygunn. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Exhibtions - New Works - Mercedes Helnwein". The Molesworth Gallery . 2007. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Exhibitions - Whistling past the graveyard - Mercedes Helnwein". The Molesworth Gallery . 2009. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  14. 1 2 "Helnwein. No way home". Meer. March 27, 2014. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Exhibitions - No Way Home - Mercedes Helnwein". The Molesworth Gallery . 2014. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  16. ↑ Helnwein, Mercedes (2014). Mercedes Helnwein: No Way Home. Added commentary by Shana Nys Dambrot. Corte Madera: Gingko Press. ISBN   9781937222277. OCLC   872733375.
  17. ↑ "Chaos Theory: Mercedes Helnwein" (PDF). Edwards Hopper House . 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  18. ↑ Perry, Carole (2017). "Mercedes Helnwein: Chaos Theory" (PDF). Edward Hopper House . Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  19. ↑ Helnwein, Mercedes; Perry, Carole (2017). Chaos Theory. Claremont, CA: ZERO+ Publishing. ISBN   9781937222468. OCLC   1004260014.
  20. ↑ "Beck - The Information - Project Notes - Project Credits - Sticker Images". bigactive.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009.
  21. ↑ "The Potential Hazards of Hester Day by Mercedes Helnwein". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  22. ↑ Helnwein, Mercedes (2008). The Potential Hazards of Hester Day. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN   9781416574668. OCLC   163603154.
  23. ↑ Helnwein, Mercedes (2021). Slingshot. New York: Wednesday Books. ISBN   9781250253002. OCLC   1151090411.
Flag of Austria.svg Crystal Clear app Login Manager 2.png Quill and ink.svg

This article about a writer or poet from Austria is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.