Mercedes Helnwein facts for kids
Mercedes Helnwein (born November 12, 1979) is a talented artist, writer, and filmmaker. She was born in Vienna, Austria, and now mostly lives and works in Los Angeles, USA. She is known for her unique drawings, interesting stories, and creative films.
Early Life and Art Beginnings
Mercedes Helnwein was born in Vienna, Austria. Her father is the famous Austro-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein. When Mercedes and her brothers, Cyril, Ali, and Wolfgang Amadeus, were children, they often posed for their father's artworks. Their father's art sometimes showed serious topics like war.
Even as kids, Mercedes and her siblings had a lot of freedom to express themselves. This helped Mercedes develop her own special artistic style.
Her Art Style
Mercedes Helnwein did not go to a formal art school. However, she grew up around many famous artists because of her father. She met people like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
Helnwein creates large drawings, often using black pencil, colored pencils, or pastels. Her art first appeared in public in 2000. One of her first group shows was organized by actor Jason Lee in Los Angeles. In 2007, she had her first solo art show in New York. It was called Untitled (Self-Portrait With Ribbon).
Major Art Exhibitions
Mercedes Helnwein has shown her art in many places. She has had more than ten solo exhibitions and over a dozen group shows.
In 2005, another famous artist named Damien Hirst bought some of Helnwein's art collections. These collections included "East of Eden," "Strange Days," and "Whistling Past the Graveyard." They were shown at A Gallery in London.
The Molesworth Gallery in Ireland has hosted several of her solo shows. Her first show there was in 2007. She returned in 2009 with "Whistling past the graveyard." In 2014, the gallery showed "No Way Home," and also released a book about her art with the same name.
Her series of oil pastel drawings, "Temptation to be Good," was shown at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in 2010. She had another solo show there in 2012 called "Make It Dark." In 2017, the Edward Hopper House held a solo exhibit of her oil pastel art, titled "Chaos Theory."
Helnwein also created art for stickers that came with Beck's 2006 music album, The Information.
Her Writing
Besides art, Mercedes Helnwein is also a writer. In 2004, she wrote a travel story called "Devil Got Religion." It was about a 15-day road trip she took with artists Alex Prager and Beth Riesgraf. They were working on an art project called "America Motel."
In 2008, her first novel, The Potential Hazards of Hester Day, was published by Simon & Schuster.
When talking about her 2021 novel, Slingshot, Helnwein said she finds the "secrets of suburbia" and its "surface fakeness" very interesting.
