Mercedes Helnwein

Mercedes Helnwein (born November 12, 1979) is an artist, writer and filmmaker. She was born in Vienna, Austria and primarily lives and works in Los Angeles.

Early life Helnwein was born in Vienna, Austria. She and her brothers, Cyril, Ali, and Wolfgang Amadeus, often modeled for their father's work as children, whose works often included nightmarish depictions of war and exploitation. As children, Mercedes and her siblings were given the freedom to express themselves, and she developed a style distinctively hers. but, growing up, she interacted with art figures such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring through her father's connections. In 2007 Helnwein's New York solo exhibition debut, Untitled (Self-Portrait With Ribbon) at Bespoke Gallery. Rachel Wolff, writing for Vulture, suggested Helnwein's "immaculately executed drawings play out like dramatically lit, attractively cast indie flicks." The Molesworth Gallery hosted its first solo exhibit of Helnwein's work in 2007. The Molesworth Gallery hosted its second solo exhibit of Helnwein's work in 2009, "Whistling past the graveyard." Helnwein's "Temptation to be Good," a series of drawings in oil pastels, was exhibited at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in 2010, and it also made available her monograph of the same name. In 2017, Edward Hopper House held a solo exhibit of Helnwein's oil pastel, "Chaos Theory."

Helnwein also contributed art for stickers included in Beck's 2006 album, The Information.

Writing In 2004, Helnwein's travelogue, "Devil Got Religion," covered the 15-day road trip with Alex Prager and Beth Riesgraf for their "America Motel" installation.

Discussing her 2021 novel, Slingshot, Helnwein says, "The secrets of suburbia, the surface fakeness, have always been interesting to me."