The New Literary Enfant Terrible: Mercedes Helnwein

She came of age in a Viennese castle, her face bandaged, mouth filled with medical instruments (all in the name of art). With her forthcoming novel, and new solo shows on the horizon, the next generation is out to prove just how strange—and genius—she can get.

By Nick Haramis

Click here to see photos of the Helnwein family with Andy Warhol, Muhammad Ali, and Marilyn Manson!
Click here to check out new works by Mercedes Helnwein!
For an exclusive interview between Mercedes and her father Gottfried Helnwein, click here!

Self-Portrait with Ribbon, pencil on paper, 2006, left.

As a slight child, novelist and fine artist Mercedes Helnwein started fooling around with comic books. She'd bury herself in work, trying to ignore her father, Austrian-Irish shock artist Gottfried Helnwein, as he positioned nearby zombies and Nazi henchmen for his various art projects.

Helnwein grew up feeling alienated by the modern world, happy to hide away in a secluded Viennese castle overrun with three siblings, where, she explains, "I was stuck in the Victorian era and Mark Twain's America, and blues music." The Helnwein children spent their days posing for their father, their faces painted and bandaged, steel clamps in their mouths. When taken to restaurants to mingle with dad's famous friends—Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Muhammad Ali—she ignored them in favor of literary escapism.

And then—maybe her greatest escape of all—Helnwein moved to Los Angeles. Now 27, she has her own entourage that includes Marilyn Manson, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jason Lee (who will host her 2008 gallery opening in Los Angeles). She continues to garner critical acclaim for her drawings, and received raves for ”Strange Days,” a high-profile solo exhibition at New York‘s Bespoke Gallery this past summer.

Her visual works feature women juggling defiance and restraint, a combination that will serve her well on The Potential Hazards of Hester Day, her debut novel set for an early 2008 release by Simon & Schuster. Described as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape for the literary set, Potential Hazards is a cautionary tale fueled by its protagonist’s bizarre perception of adolescence. On setting pen to paper, Helnwein grins and says, “It’s like being God. You can do whatever the hell you want.”