Mercedes Helnwein
Mercedes Helnwein is a fine artist, writer, and video artist. 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 and her mother is Renate Helnwein. She and her brothers, Cyril, Ali, and Wolfgang Amadeus, have often modeled for their father’s work as children. [1] Helnwein and her family lived in a castle in Tipperary, Ireland. In 2000, she began dividing her time between Ireland and the U.S. Her studio is located in downtown Los Angeles. [2]
Fine Art
Mercedes Helnwein is known for her large-scale drawings, most of which are done with black pencil. The others employ ink, colored pencils, and pastels. As described in New York Magazine, her work is “immaculately executed…like dramatically lit, attractively cast indie flicks.” [3]
Helnwein’s art debuted in 2003, with her first group exhibition hosted in Los Angeles by art collector and actor Jason Lee. This exhibition was followed by regular self-instigated one-night-shows at spaces throughout L.A., often with photographer Alex Prager.[2] Thereafter, Helnwein began to exhibit in New York, Berlin, Dublin and London.
Helnwein contributed art to the Beck album, The Information (2006),[4] and appeared in his music video for “Gamma Ray,” filmed by photographer and filmmaker Autumn DeWilde.
In 2008, she obtained representation from the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles.
Other publications to discuss her work were the Los Angeles Times, Blackbook, Los Angeles Confidential, Los Angeles Magazine, Nylon, New York Magazine, New York Art Magazine, i-D, Juxtapoz, the Irish Times, The Irish Independent, Berliner Morgenpost (Berlin), Die Welt, Tank Magazine (U.K), Blag (U.K.) Lodown magazine (Berlin), Metal magazine (Spain), and Yodona (Spain).
Film
In 2008, Mercedes Helnwein included video as a medium in her work. Her brother, Ali Helnwein, composed the scores. They continue collaborating as filmmaker and composer. Titled after their respective exhibitions, the short films, “Whistling Past the Graveyard” and “East of Eden,” played for visitors at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery.[5]
Writing
In 2004, her travelogue, “Devil Got Religion,” covered the 15-day road trip with Alex Prager and Beth Riesgraf for their “America Motel” installation.[6]
In 2006, she signed with the literary agency, Ed Victor Ltd., based in London. Other representation includes the New York agency, Fletcher & Company as well as William Clark in New York.[7]
Her debut novel, The Potential Hazards of Hester Day, was released in February 2008 by Simon & Schuster.[8]
Publishers Weekly reviewed the work of literary fiction as a “funny, offbeat debut novel…[Helnwein’s] soul-searching adventure is reliably entertaining and her obligatory final-page epiphany feels just right.”[9]
References
- ^ 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
- ^ a b 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
- ^ Wolff, Rachel (July 2007). “Making Cindy Sherman Proud.” New York Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-04 at http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/07/making_cindy_sherman_proud.html
- ^ http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/mercedes-helnwein/3818009
- ^ http://www.mkgallery.com/artistpages/Mercedes_Helnwein/index.php?mm=video
- ^ Gelt, Jessica (Apr 2004). “Rooms With a View of America’s Heartland.” LA Times. Retrieved 2010-01-04 at http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/08/news/wk-ungallery8
- ^ http://www.fletcherandco.com/fletcher_clients.html
- ^ http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Mercedes-Helnwein/44023180/books
- ^ http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6496571.html