The Department of Contemporary Art was opened at the Russian Museum in the late 1980s. The department collects and exhibits new and often unconventional art forms -- installations, objects, assemblages, video art, photography and photo-based art. Many works find their way into the collection directly from exhibitions. The first major acquisition was in 1990, following the Territory of Art show curated by the Russian Museum in collaboration with the Institut des Hautes Etudes et Arts Plastiques.
The Russian Museum not only displays modern art; it also plays a fundamental role in the contemporary art process. The museum has always aimed to be in the thick of events, reflecting the diversity of modern art in its own collection. One of the main tasks of the Russian Museum is now to fill in the gaps still existing in its collection, acquiring works that were either banned or officially frowned upon during the Soviet period.

09. June 1997 - 31. August 1997
Helnwein
Alexander Borovsky
Curator for Contemporary Art at the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
The Marble Palace and St. Michaels palace
Helnwein Monograph, the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
texts by:
Alexander Borovsky
Curator for Contemporary Art at the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
THE HELNWEIN PASSION
Peter Selz
Professor Emeritus, Department of Art History, University of California, Berkeley. Former Curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and founding director of the Berkeley Art Museum.
HELNWEIN: THE ARTIST AS PROVOCATEUR
Klaus Honnef
Curator for Contemporary Art at Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn
THE SUBVERSIVE POWER OF ART
Evgenija Nicolaevna Petrova
Chief Curator of the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
THE METAPHORICAL PRINCIPLE OF GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN

http://www.helnwein.com/news/update/artikel_329.html

The State Russian Museum St Petersburg
Retrospective
Marble Palace, State Russian Museum St Petersburg
Helnwein
Commemorating the retrospective of Gottfried Helnwein in St. Petersburg's Marble Palace in 1997, the State Russian Museum has published the most comprehensive anthology of the unconventional artist's work to date.
This is the first publication showing all aspects of Helnwein's complete works from the period between 1970 and 1997.
It includes his graphic works, watercolors, oil and mixed media paintings,
his photographic work, public actions and installations as well as his works for the theatre.
With texts by Heiner Müller, William S. Burroughs, H.C.Artmann, Klaus Honnef and Peter Selz.
424 pages, 580 illustrations.
Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH,
Cologne, Germany
Helnwein

http://www.helnwein.com/news/update/artikel_262.html

http://www.rusmuseum.ru/eng/museum/friends/personal_friends.html

http://www.gottfried-helnwein-child.com/

17. July 2004 - 14. November 2004
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Robert Flynn Johnson
Curator in Charge, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
..A clarity of vision in his subject matter was emerging in Helnwein's art that was to stay consistent throughout his career. His subject matter was the human condition. The metaphor for his art, although it included self-portraits, was dominated by the image of the child, but not the carefree innocent child of popular imagination. Helnwein instead created the profoundly disturbing yet compellingly provocative image of the wounded child. The child scarred physically and the child scarred emotionally from within.

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