The Austrian-born artist Gottfried Helnwein is perhaps better known for his Johnny Cash-like sartorial style (black everything, including the ever-present bandanna) and his neo-Gothic Irish castle (site of the star-crossed union of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese) than he is for his own startling body of work: macabre paintings with photographic resonance played out on a grand scale and often in public settings. Throughout his career, Helnwein has glided easily between watercolor, oil and installation work, but his big subject has always been childhood, and not the happy sort. With titles like ‘‘The Murmur of the Innocents’’ and ‘‘God of Sub-Humans,’’ these works — executed with obsessive, old-master-worthy technique — can be as bludgeoning as, say, a Rammstein riff, but you can’t take your eyes off them. ...

The Crocker Art Museum will present a series of special exhibitions to celebrate its opening, among them Wayne Thiebaud: Homecoming, a new retrospective of the work of Sacramento’s most famous artist, who held his first solo exhibition at the Crocker nearly 60 years ago.
The works of Gottfried Helnwein, and John Buck will be featured in exhibitions opening in the winter of 2011. In summer 2011, the Crocker will present A Summer of Impressionism, with works by renowned French and American artists showcased in exhibitions alongside works by California Impressionists, one of the central strengths of the Crocker’s permanent collection. ...

"The figure with the mask is the artist Gottfried Helnwein medical and character with a bird mask and white gloves by the impresario Lewis Carroll, is Marilyn Manson." ...

Back in 2004, Marilyn Manson announced that he will write and direct a feature film called "Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll." The film never happened, but in 2006, a promo trailer was shot. That trailer is now online. This teaser features real-life twin sisters engaging in questionable acts and burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese. The figure in the medical mask is artist Gottfried Helnwein and the bird-face masked character and white gloved Lewis Carroll impresario, is Marilyn Manson." ...

Originally conceived in 2004 with pre-production throughout 2005 via The Wild Bunch (UK) and with an initial budget of $5-7 million, 'Phantasmagoria' was due to begin filming in 2006. Lily Cole, inspiration of Tim Burton's recent 'Alice in Wonderland', was originally cast as Manson's Alice for 'Phantasmagoria'. This teaser also features real-life twin sisters engaging in questionable acts and burlesque superstar Dita Von Teese. The figure in the medical mask is artist Gottfried Helnwein, and the bird-face masked character and white-gloved Lewis Carroll impresario [are both] Marilyn Manson. ...

This amazing, eight foot Gottfried Helnwein piece will look dope in some lucky Disney exec's office! So 600 mil... PLUS a Mickey painting! Filmmaker Kevin Smith writes WaxWord that he has desperately been trying to help Bob and Harvey Weinstein close the deal to buy Miramax. "I've sweetened the Weinstein's offer to buy Miramax back," he writes. "All day yesterday and just now this morning, I've been throwing Tweets and large artwork at the Mouse to up the ante, but they've not responded." Smith is a Weinstein diehard, who has been following the MIramax sale closely. The brothers bravely backed Smith in making such lasting cultural oddities ...landmarks... movies as "Clerks," "Mallrats," and "Chasing Amy." He has been Twittering (@thatkevinsmith) to his million-plus followers about the deal - offernig Mickey Mouse paintings, for example. The deal is in the midst of pitched negotiations since the Weinsteins were granted an exclusive window through the weekend to try and close the deal. ...

This leads to the current governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who will he select to depict him – in all his glory? There already exists an exquisite portrait of Schwarzenegger the body-builder done in 1977 by Jamie Wyeth. Were they alive today, perhaps Richard Rubenstein (of Interview cover fame), or even Andy Warhol himself, could have painted the official portrait. Since post-Studio 54, Schwarzenegger has been good friends with Gottfried Helnwein. Given his style of hyperrealism, I would not be surprised if he is chosen to paint the official portrait. This would be a similar break with tradition as was Brown's work, but given the history of this Governor and the unorthodox nature of both his personality and his ascension, a traditional portrait would seem out of place. ...

cover art: blue child by Gottfried Helnwein ...

Helnwein's realization of the final scene takes the breath away: a view of dozens of bloodied children's bodies, some of them hanging, some of them turning over and over in mid-air, as a vocal ensemble sings their words while kneeling on stage.
This vision connects eerily with an exhibition in the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre plaza, adapted from one the Austrian Artist mounted in Cologne in 1988, marking the 50th anniversary of the Nazis' anti-Jewish Kristallnacht. It shows two rows of innocent, haunted-looking child's faces, one row with eyes open; the other with eyes closed, lined up as if in a concentration camp (Selektion is the exhibit's title). ...

Famous Austrian designer and artist Gottfried Helnwein designed the set and costumes for “The Child Dreams” Opera.  He also presents his work outside the opera. Helnwein says his work and the playwright’s have a strong internal connection.
 Gottfried Helnwein: “In my work, the center of everything was always the child, the child versus the world of death, the world of corruption, the world of greed and destruction, and the child standing for innocence, purity, and I think that's a spirit of the play.” ...

Levin's profoundly philosophical, abstract and ironic, sharply pointed ideas hardly lend themselves to the operatic medium. What came closest to Levin's spirit were Gottfried Helnwein's set and Omri Nitzan's direction. These were the main heroes of the performance, highly imaginative, altogether unconventional - without gliding into sophistication - and thought provoking. ...

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An installation by artist Gottfried Helnwein in memory of Kristallnacht will be presented in Israel for the first time to coincide with the staging of The Child Dreams - the first opera to be based on a play by Hanch Levin - for which Helnwein designed the stage. ...

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"In a very poetic way [Hanoch Levin] describes the world we live in," says Helnwein, "with the child as metaphor for innocence, purity, confronted with the corrupt adult world. The adult characters, even the mother and father, are all archetypes; the child doesn't understand this world. With complete trust, he thinks that the bond between himself and his mother is unbreakable, but, of course, it's broken…
A huge picture-wall of a sleeping child, through which the soldiers break, is the first of four amazing sets, culminating in a "universe of dead children in an infinity of space." ...

2001 - Gottfried Helnwein at Kilkenny Arts Festival ...

Sales reports were extremely upbeat. These included a Chuck Close tapestry for $120,000 and “a major Miro” that brought six figures at Contessa Gallery, two Jean Dubuffet pieces that sold in “the hundreds of thousands” at David Klein Gallery, an Eric Fischl painting at $300,000, a Frank Stella for $145,000, and two works by John Chamberlain at $200,000 and $300,000 at Mark Borghi Fine Art Inc.; a Gottfried Helnwein painting that went “for six figures” at Barry Friedman Ltd; ...

Directed by Melina Matsoukas (who's helmed videos for the likes of Beyoncé, Eve and Lady Gaga), "Hard" is a high-gloss, expensive-looking thing, featuring Rihanna wearing a Mickey Mouse helmet à la Gottfried Helnwein and Marilyn Manson. ...

Friedman Benda announces representation of the Austrian-born artist Gottfried Helnwein. The artist's first New York solo exhibition opens September 17th featuring painting and documentary film. A second exhibition presenting a new body of work, currently in progress, will open at Friedman Benda in May 2010. ...

Works by Nobuyoshi Araki, Peter Beard, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Thomas Ruff, Jörg Sasse, Wolfgang Tillmans as well as an unusual portrait of Michael Jackson by Gottfried Helnwein (estimate of 5,000-7,000 EUR) will be put up for auction. ...