Gottfried Helnwein

(*1948)

Austria – Contemporary Art – Realism – Gottfried Helnwein

Vita:

After Gottfried Helnwein successfully completed his schooling, he and Manfred Deix attended the Higher Federal Graphical Training and Research Institute in Vienna and began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1969. His painting master class was led by Rudolf Hausner. The artist became known in the 1970s for his hyper-realistic images of wounded and bandaged children. The representation of children has also remained the central theme of his work. Gottfried Helnwein’s exhibitions did not always meet with positive criticism. Due to strong protests and even greater rejection and outrage, one of his exhibitions even had to be canceled. These events were strongly reminiscent of the initial incomprehension of Schiele and Munch’s art. Since the 1990s, in addition to painting, he has also dealt intensively with photography and large-format installations in public space, which are mostly connected to a social or socio-political topic. The work created by Gottfried Helnwein was honored with numerous awards and presented in a large number of exhibitions. A co-production by ORF and ZDF created a film documentary about Helnwein, which was also awarded.

Work:

Gottfried Helnwein’s work is characterized by his hyper-realistic images of wounded and bandaged children. He usually works with a wide variety of painting techniques and stylistic devices. Drawings, watercolor painting, acrylic painting and oil painting are just as much a part of his work as photography. In the late 1990s he began to incorporate videos into his oeuvre. Throughout his work, he deals intensively with the topics of pain, injury and violence. It is precisely through these motives that he touches a central point that is often viewed as a taboo in society. His work contains absolute extremes. On the one hand the artist claims that Walt Disney is his role model and on the other hand he works on serious issues of contemporary history. His work is characterized by the fact that Gottfried Helnwein manages to present such contrary topics. On the one hand it shows the ease of being a child and on the other hand it creates horror images of child abuse.