Gottfried Helnwein and The Human Condition

I am going to post about Helnwein on both my Buzznet account as well as here. I think everyone should be aware of his art.

Gottfried Helnwein is an Austrian artist known for his hyper-realist paintings depicting wounded children, meant to symbolize innocence as well as society's exploitation of this virtue. They encapsulate the purity and unassuming wisdom of children marred by war, poverty and corruption.

Beautiful Victim II (1974)

Head of a Child III

The Last Child (2008). Part of a public installation displayed throughout the city of Waterford in Ireland. 

Helnwein's love for cartoon characters sparked inspiration for a collection of paintings featuring malevolent versions of Disney cartoon characters, specifically, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. These cartoon characters recur in Helnwein's work � for example, one of his early watercolors, "Peinlich (Embarrassing)" shows a little girl in a pink dress holding a comic book. A gash slices her cheek and lips, deforming them. In many interviews Helnwein has stated, "I learned more from Donald Duck than from all the schools I have attended." 

Midnight Mickey

Peinlich (Embarrassing). 1971

Helnwein has also photographed Marilyn Manson (for his album "The Golden Age of Grotesque"), Andy Warhol, and Keith Richards to name a few. In addition, he has done a series of self portraits. 

Golden Age I

Golden Age

Stinking Hearts (1987). Helnwein himself is in the background.

Ultimately, Helnwein's art explores the human condition through pain, fear and the forces of war. It is visceral and unnerving. Because Helnwein grew up in a post-war German speaking country, much of his art references the Holocaust (for example, in his recreation of the famous "Adoration of the Magi," the infant Jesus is surrounded by five SS officers). His work is so controversial that, unfortunately, it has been protested, defamed and even confiscated by the police. 

All photos from Helnwein.com. Please take a look at his website and more of his artwork.


Beeteedubs i promise did not just copy this entire post from Helnwein's Wikipedia page. I canz write formally! =^_^=

Greetings!

I just finished customizing this page. I hope the fruits of my labor are successful and visually appealing.
I will be posting fashion-related blogs as well as photographs I have taken on my trusty red point-and-shoot and sometimes my father's fancy and legitimate Nikon.
I have a blog on Buzznet (see link under "further reading" on the sidebar over there), but I want to get my stuff more "out there," so I figured this would be a good place to start.
I will never just copy & paste my posts from Buzznet and stick them on here.
Yaaay!
I hope you will return to this page in the near future. Maybe tomorrow?

fashion crush: gabriella marina gonzalez

There's something a little bit Gaga about the A/W10 collection from Gabriella Marina Gonzalez, but I'm okay with that. In fact I'm more than okay with that. I want every single piece, accessories and all.

too busy for words

but aren't these images lovely? Je te presente Veronique Pecheux.

benjamin beker

Went on a little East London art adventure this weekend. Stopped by Flowers East on Kingsland Road (among other places) to check out the exhibition of a chap called Benjamin Beker. I've never heard of him or seen any of his work before, which is rather surprising as he completed an MA from the RCA in 2008.

He has three current series of works: blocks, war and liberation monuments, and interiors of power. Sadly, only blocks is on show at Flowers, but I picked up his catalogue (or you can check out the work on his site) and the others look great too. 

I love the separation of image from context. Just the monuments or selected parts of the high rise blocks. It gives a sculptural quality to the images and renders both the object and the finished photograph quite striking. 

The work looks great in the gallery, but then I saw this photo on Beker's website and there's something about the nature and the quality of his work that just looks incredible against the backdrop of this car park/warehouse/industrial something. Sometimes I wonder why people bother showing work in galleries at all, but I suppose that's an issue for another post. I only wish I'd come across his work before as I think it would have been amazing to hang in the Regent Street venue. Having said that, I'm thinking of asking him to be part of my summer show. Watch this space.

(all images from benjaminbeker.com/)

give a girl the moon...

and she'll plug it in?

I am completely captivated by this light moon. It's almost as fabulous an idea as getting a puppy, but since it doesn't need to be taken out for daily walks it is in many respects a far less high maintenance pet.

See. I'm not so cynical after all. I love the romanticism of having a personal moon.

I love the images as well - beautiful composition and intriguing narrative photography. Why don't more product designers maintain involvement throughout the whole process - design is surely only one element of the story. You'd think that if you spent so much effort creating a fantastic product, you'd want to be involved through the rest of the stages of development and marketing. You'd want to maintain the consistency of your vision.

Leonard Treed, call him genius

This is one of the best photographs I've ever seen. It has everything, happiness, joy, an incredibly perspective, the fresh sensation of the water. Leonard Freed took this picture in 1963 during a heatwave in Harlem (NYC). He became a member of Magnum in 1956, and full member in 1972. I am sure you all know Magnum, but just in case, I'll write a post next week. This is the biography of the photographer who took this amazing photo:

"Born in Brooklyn, New York, to working-class Jewish parents of Eastern European descent, Leonard Freed first wanted to become a painter. However, he began taking photographs while in the Netherlands in 1953, and discovered that this was where his passion lay (...) Working as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards, Freed began to travel widely, photographing blacks in America (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68), the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the New York City police department (1972-79). He also shot four films for Japanese, Dutch and Belgian television.
Freed joined Magnum in 1972. His coverage of the American civil rights movement first made him famous, but he also produced major essays on Poland, Asian immigration in England, North Sea oil development, and Spain after Franco. Photography became Freed's means of exploring societal violence and racial discrimination.
Leonard Freed died in Garrison, New York, on 30 November 2006".

*Picture and italic text from Magnum website

Esta es una de las mejores fotos que he visto en mi vida. Lo tiene todo, refleja un momento feliz, la perspectiva es incre�ble, y la sensaci�n de frescor que deja el agua, que est� por todas partes, m�s a�n. Leonard Freed hizo esta foto en Harlem (NYC) en 1963 durante una ola de calor. Se convirti� en miembro de Magnum en 1956.

Esto segura de que todos conoc�is la agencia Magnum, pero por si os interesa el tema, har� un post m�s extenso sobre la historia de la agencia la semana que viene. Aqu� os dejo un peque�o resumen de la biograf�a de este gran fot�grafo, que falleci� en noviembre de 2006.

"Naci� en Brooklyn (NYC) sus padres eran jud�os descendientes de europeos del Este. Al principio quer�a ser pintor, pero pronto cambi� de parecer. En 1953 hizo muchas fotos en los Pa�ses Bajos, y se di� cuenta que la fotograf�a era su gran pasi�n. Trabaj� como fot�grafo freelance a partir de 1961, comenz� a viajar a lo largo y ancho del mundo, fotografiando gente de raza negra en Am�rica (1964-1965), sucesos en Israel (1967-1968), la guerra de Yom Kippur en 1973, y el departamento de polic�a de NYC (1972-1979). Tambi�n rod� cuatro films para la tele belga, japonesa y holandesa. Se uni� a Magnum en 1972. Se hizo famoso por la cobertura que di� al movimiento de los derechos civiles de los norteamericanos, pero tambi�n produjo grandes trabajos en Polonia, sobre la inmigraci�n en Asia, sobre el desarrollo del petr�leo en el mar del norte, y sobre Espa�a despu�s de Franco. La fotograf�a se convirti� en el medio a trav�s del cual Freed exploraba la violencia social y la discriminaci�n racial. Muri� en NYC, el 30 de noviembre de 2006.