PRESENT: A crowd described as groovy and Hollywoodish -including actor/skateboarder Jason Lee - turned up Thursday for the opening of Austrian-born L.A.-and-Ireland resident Gottfried Helnwein's show at Modernism in San Francisco. Sean Penn was said to have bought three paintings. ...

THE FRENCH SAY, "CONDEMNANT IL FAIT Q'UOD": "WE CONDEMN WHAT WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND." BUT THAT STOPS RIGHT HERE. LAY YOUR OPINIONS OF THE MAN TO REST UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE READ THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION BETWEEN CYRIL HELNWEIN AND MARILYN MANSON
-
Manson:
Of course, for everybody who reads this – they won’t know that our meeting has been very important to my career, because you introduced me to your father (Gottfried Helnwein) and we'’ve gone and will go on to do lots of great stuff together.
So that’s the behind-the-scenes story for everybody who’'s going to read this.. ...

His private collection of abstract expressionists, contemporary and Native American art is considered by dealers and curators to be one of the nations best, and he has seats on the boards of the museums of modern art in San Francisco and New York. Much of his collection, including works by Wayne Theibaud, Naomi Kremer, GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN and Nathan Oliveira, is on display throughout the company's offices.
In November, Sotheby's will hold a sale of more than 20 abstract works owned by Weisel. The paintings are expected to fetch as much as $60 million. ...

Some of his work is disturbing to say the least, and has been described as "the visual equivalent of a contact sport". He uses art as a way to fight back at society, his pictures forcing people to face things they might prefer to forget about.
Children feature heavily, as do bandages and chilling images from the wartime era. All very challanging, yet fascinating. ...

The art in the loft is primarily representational and often haunting, veering towards an eerie hyperphotorealism. A large painting by Gottfried Helnwein shows a group of men - perhaps doctors or veterans of war - surrounding the body of a young girl on an examination table. They gaze directly at the viewer, as if posing . It could be an antique photograph - the men are from another time - but for the disfigured faces of the physicians.
"I don't think they know how they look," says Lee. ...

Die von William Hogarths Kupferstichserie von 1733/34 inspirierte Oper weckt von je den Ehrgeiz der Maler, Bühnenbildner zu sein: David Hockney, Jörg Immendorf, zuletzt in Hamburg Gottfried Helnwein. Die Orte des Niedergangs von Tom Rakewell - Landidylle, ein Londoner Bordell, Friedhof und die Endstation Irrenhaus - kitzeln reflexhaft die Inspiration: es zucken und schnappen Drastik, wilde Farben, Travestie und Parodie. ...

When Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein opened a show of his paintings recently, celebrities crowded his downtown studio.
Leonardo DiCaprio rubbed Elbows with Marilyn Manson. Beck chatted with Kevin Smith. Mena Suvari stopped for a photo op, and Sean Penn lent his cool.
For a recent transplant, Helnwein attracted much Hollywood. ...

Skräckrockaren Marilyn Manson ska samarbeta med den österrikiske avantgarde-konstnären Gottfried Helnwein.
På Mansons officiella sajt beskrivs satsningen som "A world of horror in pictures".
Helnwein är kontroversiell på grund av sina referenser till nazismen. En serie porträtt, som förstördes av nynazister, ska nu ställas ut på Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance. Samtidigt planerar Marilyn Manson en egen utställning i september av sina målningar.
Han är också i full gång med att spela in sitt nästa album, The golden age of grotesque. Dessutom har han en roll i filmen Party monster i New York

“This is a very serious and somewhat disturbing exhibition,” said Mayor Meralee Goldman, who is supportive of the exhibit and was first approached by the Austrian artist.
“There is an important component of education to go along with this exhibit,” Human Relations Director Mary O’Gorman said. “This is a Holocaust Memorial, and the intent at times is to overwhelm.”
The exhibit is described as “an art event to focus the conscience of the viewer and, through media exposure, the conscience of the widest possible public” by the artist’s draft proposal. “An art installation a city block long...will rise into public view to cry out against not only one of history’s most tragic and horrific episodes of prejudice, but also against the current resurgence of the endangerment of children through intolerance around the world.” ...

...Helnwein opens up"Nighthawks" to closer iconographic inspection, exposing the symbolic meanings of the painting to cement its position as a landmark of twentieth-century anti-urbanism. ...