Gottfried Helnwein | ARTIST | Event Calendar | ONE-MAN SHOWKindskopf (Head of a Child)

1991
Catalog, Museum of lower Austria
Peter Zawrel
Chief curator, Museum of lower Austria
The auratic face of a child, six metres high, four metres wide, hanging in the triumphal arch of a medieval church, surrounded by dozens of canvases in the standard size of 200 by 140 cm that are mounted on the church's pillars and walls show heads and fantasy creatures which only on closer inspection may be easily recognized as children's drawings - once more Helnwein upsets traditional structures of perception in a number of ways, including the expectations that visitors have of a Helnwein exhibition. This is signalled already by the title "KINDSKOPF", which in addition to being a reference to the theme depicted (the head of a child) refers to the ironically serious self-representation of the artist (in German "Kindskopf" is a somewhat condescending colloquialism for an adult acting in childish ways), similar to Helnwein's earlier catalogue title "Subhuman" ("Untermensch") of 1988.


		26. May 1991 Museum of Lower Austria, Vienna ONE-MAN SHOW "Kindskopf", Installation in the Minoriten Church, Krems


		KINDSKOPF Installation in the Minorittenchurch, Krems 1991 Museum of Lower Austria, Vienna Peter Zawrel director of the Museum of Lower Austria, Vienna catalogue text by Peter Zawrel, Peter Gorsen and William S. Burroughs. KINDSKOPF, catalogue Installation in the Minorittenchurch, Krems


		"KINDSKOPF", HELNWEIN'S PLEA FOR A DIFFERENT CHILDHOOD 1991 Catalog, Museum of lower Austria Peter Zawrel Chief curator, Museum of lower Austria The auratic face of a child, six metres high, four metres wide, hanging in the triumphal arch of a medieval church, surrounded by dozens of canvases in the standard size of 200 by 140 cm that are mounted on the church's pillars and walls show heads and fantasy creatures which only on closer inspection may be easily recognized as children's drawings - once more Helnwein upsets traditional structures of perception in a number of ways, including the expectations that visitors have of a Helnwein exhibition. This is signalled already by the title "KINDSKOPF", which in addition to being a reference to the theme depicted (the head of a child) refers to the ironically serious self-representation of the artist (in German "Kindskopf" is a somewhat condescending colloquialism for an adult acting in childish ways), similar to Helnwein's earlier catalogue title "Subhuman" ("Untermensch") of 1988. "KINDSKOPF", HELNWEIN'S PLEA FOR A DIFFERENT CHILDHOOD