Mercedes Helnwein

Mercedes Helnwein is a fine artist and writer. She lives in Ireland and Los Angeles, CA.

Family and early life

Mercedes Helnwein was born in Vienna, Austria. Her father is Austro-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein . She and her brothers, Cyril, Ali, and Wolfgang Amadeus, have often modeled for their father’s work as children.^[1]

Fine art

Mercedes Helnwein is known mainly for her detailed works on paper with pencil. '^[2] She also employs ink, paint, and with her exhibition "Temptation to be Good" (2010) she has started a series of work in oil pastel.^[3]

Helnwein’s art debuted in 2003,^[4] with her first group exhibition hosted in Los Angeles by art collector and actor Jason Lee.^[5] This exhibition was followed by regular self-instigated one-night-shows at spaces throughout L.A. often with photographer Alex Prager^[6] with whom she founded Devils Porchlight Press^[7] in 2004. Thereafter, Helnwein began to exhibit in New York, Berlin, Dublin and London.

Mercedes Helnwein contributed art to the Beck album, The Information (2006),^[8] and appeared in his music video for "Gamma Ray,"^[9] filmed by photographer and filmmaker Autumn de Wilde.^[10]

She is represented by the following galleries: Merry Karnowsky Gallery (Los Angeles), Dittrich & Schlechtriem (Berlin). ^[11]

Damien Hirst acquired the entire work of Helnwein's "Whistling Past the Graveyard" show, presented by A Gallery in London.^[12]

Film

Mercedes Helnwein includes video as a medium in her work. Her brother, Ali Helnwein, composed the scores for "East of Eden"^[13] as well as "Faking it" and "Whistling Past the Graveyard."^[14] The films are reminiscent of the characters depicted in her drawings.^[15]

In 2011 Helnwein directed the A/W 11 collection film for London-based fashion label Orla Kiely. ^[16]

Writing

In 2004, her travelogue, “Devil Got Religion,” covered the 15-day road trip with photographer Alex Prager and actress Beth Riesgraf for their “America Motel” installation.^[5]

Her debut novel, The Potential Hazards of Hester Day, was released in February 2008 by Simon & Schuster.^{[17] [18]}

Reviews

• Publishers Weekly, "The Potential Hazards of Hester Day"
• New York Magazine, "Making Cindy Sherman Proud"
• BlackBook magazine, "The New Literary Enfant Terrible"
• BlackBook magazine, "Whistling Past the Graveyard"
• Brand X (Los Angeles Times), "East of Eden"
• LA Weekly, "East of Eden"
• Los Angeles Times, "Rooms with a View of America’s Heartland"
• The Irish Times, "A mixture of assertive and uncertain"
• Irish Independent, "Putting down roots in south Tipperary"
• Anthem magazine, "Mercedes Helnwein, 'Whistling Past the Graveyard' Recap"
• Campus Circle, "Mercedes Helnwein: Whistling Past the Graveyard"
• MF magazine, "Mercedes Helnwein"
• THE Magazine, Los Angeles, "Whistling Past the Graveyard"

References

1. ^ Haramis, Nick (Dec/Jan 2008). “The New Literary Enfant Terrible.” Blackbook. Retrieved 2010-01-04 at http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/the-new-literary-enfant-terrible/1546#When:17:01:00Z
2. ^ http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/exclusive-interview-with-mercedes-helnwein-part-two
3. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-b-kelly/mercedes-helnwein-strange_b_780602.html
4. ^ Tung, Tommy (Aug 2009). “One Million Questions for One Mercedes Helnwein,” Part One and Two. Juxtapoz. Retrieved 2010-01-04 at http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/exclusive-one-million-questions-for-one-mercedes-helnwein and http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/exclusive-interview-with-mercedes-helnwein-part-two
5. ^ ^{a b} Gelt, Jessica (Apr 2004). “Rooms With a View of America’s Heartland.” Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-01-04 at http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/08/news/wk-ungallery8
6. ^ http://brianlebarton.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Mercedes-Marfa-Press-Release.pdf
7. ^ http://www.mbfala.com/publications/_54/
8. ^ http://www.psfk.com/2006/10/becks_diy_album.html
9. ^ http://www.mercedeshelnwein.com/press-2009/wp-content/press/09/pdf/calletranslation.pdf
10. ^ http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2008/11/7/popscreen-beck-doomed-were-all-doomed/
11. ^ http://www.dittrich-schlechtriem.com/?page_id=6458
12. ^ http://www.gggallery.co.uk/gallery.php?pg=2&cat=00008736
13. ^ http://www.mkgallery.com/pressreleases/Mercedes%2009%20Press%20Release.pdf
14. ^ http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/75-minutes-an-hour-a-narrative-essay-on-mercedes-helnwein
15. ^ http://curated.culturejam.com/2010/03/mercedes-helnwein/
16. ^ http://www.vogue.co.uk/video?category=exclusives&id=10336
17. ^ http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Mercedes-Helnwein/44023180/books
18. ^ http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6496571.html

External links

• Mercedes Helnwein: official website
• Mercedes Helnwein on MySpace
• Mercedes Helnwein on YouTube
• Mercedes Helnwein at Simon & Schuster
• Mercedes Helnwein at Merry Karnowsky Gallery
• Mercedes Helnwein at Pool Gallery, Berlin
• Mercedes Helnwein at Molesworth Gallery, Dublin
• Mercedes Helnwein at Bo Lee Gallery
• artist page at ArtSlant
• artist page at ArtNet
• WeActivist page at We Are the Superlative Conspiracy (WeSC)

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Name	Helnwein, Mercedes
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Date of birth	1979
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