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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]