The child has grown into a world famous artist. But he has carried his questions with him. Today opens a large retrospective exhibition of Helnwein's art in Waino Aaltonen Museum of Art in Turku. The exhibition contains aquarels, oil paintings, drawings and photographs. They have often caused controversies by dealing with subjects that are all too sensitive. ...

"Child's Head", 1991, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 650x403.5
Pg. 278
The early stages of this monumental head can be seen in Helnwein's widely varied portrayals from the seventies of suffering children, but above all in the Cologne installation of anonymous children's portraits "9th November Night" from 1988.
The human face, in particular the child's face, is of great fascination for Helnwein and consequently accounts for one of his central pictorial subjects. The monumental face of a little girl which is introduced here is, as it were, representative of all children. In our adult society oriented towards profit and success, children can almost be described as a fringe group, their interests indeed being observed in a comparatively modest fashion. Against this background, this monumentalizing of the face in connection with the hyperrealistic style of painting is to be understood as an oppressive irritation of our customary experience of perception.
Originally the child's head was shown in a Minorite church in Krems, Stein; in fact it was placed at the focal point of a huge early Gothic room which lent the picture a positively sacral tone. ...

"Gods, Heroes and Idols"

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The first major museum exhibition to explore the influence of four decades of rock and roll music on contemporary art and artists includes the work of important contemporary artists from each era. Rock and roll's history, personalities, songs, and imagery are the subject of more than 100 works of art in all media by 97 of the world's leading artists including Andy Warhol, Gottfried Helnwein, William Wegman, Nam June Paik, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Annie Liebovitz, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Carrie Mae Weems.
Organized by Curatorial Assistance, Inc.

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Regie: Gert Hof ...

Münchener Muffathallen-Produktion und die Geschichte eines Bildes und einer Witwe. Finis eines gefährlich-absurden post(?)-faschistischen Vorspiels: Ingeborg Wünsche. Witwe eines SS-Mannes, hat von den angedrohten juristischen Schritten gegen Gottfried Helnweins "SS-Gruppenbild mit Madonna und Kind" (wir berichteten) schließlich abgesehen... ...

Gottfried Helnwein- Retrospective in the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg ...