Gottfried Helnwein's Epiphany (Adoration of the Magi) is a strange takeoff on a traditional New Testament theme in art. The work depicts a Madonnalike mother displaying her baby to attentive Nazi officers, Painted in hyperrealist grisaille with chiaroscuro effects, the work resembles an old documentary photograph made huge. The eerie, sinister overtones are unmistakable. Who is this mother? What do these officers want with her and her child? What kind of official paper might the officer on the left hold in his hand and what might be its result? Helnwein, characteristically, presents us with an ambiguous, haunting image and leaves us to wonder about its meaning...
With its huge size, hyperrealist style, and disturbing content, this unsettling work bestows a psychological anxiety accompanied by a strong magnetic pull. Confronting it, we tend to stare-entranced by both its beauty and its seductive, malevolent overtones... ...

I love looking at pictures of dead people, hence, in love with Gottfried Helnwein - the most talented photographer on earth...being able to capture and potrait the stories of the dead.And the fact that he's Marilyn Manson's best friend... ...

Adoration of the Magi (1496) by Filippino Lippi - Epiphany (Adoration of the Magi) 1996 by Gottfried Helnwein.
If you noticed the completion dates, you would be correct to count 500 years difference between them. Considering Helnwein body of work, I don't think his 1996 completion date is entirely coincidental. Is there a meaning behind the date? Probably, but you will have to ask him. On the other hand, there were quite a few "Adoration of Magi" paintings and I am just putting too much thought into the two I found the most interesting. But then again, art is very subjective and I have chosen to give meaning to these two works of art and hence find the 500 years relevant. ...

{i am a madwoman right now. soon enough i'll burn out/fade away.}
{& yes, this was a school assignment, so kill me.} ...

THE SYMBOLISM OF GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN ...

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He just crashed very high into my favorite painters ever list. So impressive, check out the rest of his work here.
::update:: Well maybe you're better off NOT to check it, at least not the stuff before 2005. The 2005 stuff I LOVE.
But the stuff before that, maybe a matter of taste, but I just discovered he also made really sick disturbing stuff that's just sick sick sick that I think is just so disturbing I don't even want to link it here (it's at his watercolors section "the intrusion", most specifically, well most of that page in general actually.). Why!? Whyyy? How can that be! ...

целую, князь ([info]activatemorlack) wrote, @ 2006-06-10 01:48:00 ...

This month FanMail client NOCTALUCA released their album "Towering the Sum" to a frenzy of anticipation and critical acclaim.
In a recent newsletter to their fans, Noctaluca introduced GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN and exlained how the artist inspired the album. The really cool thing about the newsletter is that it was almost entirely about something other than themselves. No cheesy self portraits or "here are our tour dates" or "thanks to the people who love us". The entire newsletter was focused on the artist that had influenced them.
Bravo! ...

Konsequent und virtuos. Technische Meisterschaft und auch die Konsequenz einer packenden sozialkritischen Thematik offenbaren sich in dieser Ausstellung: Gewalt, Schmerz, Verletzung werden dargestellt. Den Körper ebenso wie die Psyche betreffend. Helnwein dokumentiert hier in Linz einen künstlerischen Reifegrad, der eine weitere Steigerung kaum vorstellbar macht. Seine Eingriffe sind von einer schmerzhaften Unmittelbarkeit, deren emotionale Energie weit über die großen Bildformate hinaus den Raum und sein Publikum ergreift. (Irene Judmayer - Oberösterreichische Nachrichten) ...