Munster Express Online

Dear Sir,

When I recently walked through Waterford City Centre and saw a giant poster of a Gottfried Helnwein painting of a young girl’s head with blood oozing out and a sinister cartoon figure beside her my first reaction was shock. But it was not shock that catapulted me into a new level of awareness or made the horrors of war clear to me. It was shock that such a poster was allowed in a place where young children would be subjected to such a gruesome image. And unfortunately it completely took away from the wonderful landscape by the same artist, also on view.

To justify is as “bringing art to the people” is a bit condescending. Waterford people are very aware artistically and there are numerous artistic events on in the town. These works were previously shown in Waterford in Greyfriars Art Gallery where they were on sale for anything from €20,000 up. They do not seem to have been conceived as pieces of public art and I think that the gallery environment suits them better.

However, it seems that the organisers for some reason are concerned that Waterford people might not be visiting art galleries as much as they should, so in their wisdom they have decided to make us look at the work, by placing enormous copies of it at strategic places around the city. As we obviously must keep our eyes open as we walk around the busy town we cannot avoid the images on the posters. (It might in fact have been a much more interesting experiment if an original or two was placed in The Square rather than copies.)

According to one article in the local paper this is all about freedom of expression for artists. I don’t believe that Mr.Helnwein was ever a victim of suppression, at least certainly not in Ireland. Perhaps it was not his idea to cover the city in sinister images of children. However, I do think he needs to consider their impact in a world where children are so vulnerable. The danger is that sometimes these types of images do not prevent abuse of children but give it validation. I believe that many young sensitive children would find these images upsetting. How do you explain to a small child why our local public leaders think that it is good for us all to look at unsettling pictures of a young girl with blood pouring out of her head. There are age restrictions on what we view in the cinema for very good reasons. The problem with shock tactics is that once the shock is over we tend to regard the images as normal.

On his website Mr.Helnwien says of Donald duck comic books, “I was back home again, in a decent world where one could get flattened by steamrollers and perforated by bullets without serious harm,” (my emphasis). The difference here is that Mr. Helnwein’s art goes way beyond the slapstick humour of Donald Duck and many local children have no option but to look at these images.

Nobody wants to suppress art but artists also have a responsibility to the public to think through their ideas. In Ireland censorship was so bad in the past that now everyone is paranoid about being seen to advocate any type of restraint or criticism at all. But people must consider what is appropriate for children to see and watch. Helnwein is extremely talented but what works brilliantly in the intimate surroundings of a gallery, where the viewer has time to think and consider, will not necessarily transfer to a public square in a city centre, where people are rushing to get back to work, school etc. Even extremely talented painters can get it wrong sometimes.

Much of Helnwein’s work is inspired by the Holocaust. It is ironic that this exhibition comes at the same time as another work inspired by the same horrific events, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. while the film may be disappointing the book strikes the right balance in that it is alive to the needs and sensitivities of the audience. While it is shocking it does not seek to shock for the sake of it. The writer presents his work with subtlety and the audience can choose to take it or leave it. With the giant posters we have no such choice.

Yours faithfully,

Laura Swift

Kilbride North

Tramore, Co.Waterford.