This exhibition gathers key works from Helnwein’s career alongside a precise selection from the SOLO Collection. Loans from international collections and from the artist himself establish a body of work that feels both rigorous and deeply unsettling. Recent sculptures and oil paintings extend this trajectory, reinforcing a visual language built on control, repetition, and psychological tension.

Helnwein constructs scenes where the familiar turns against itself. Cartoon figures, once associated with innocence, appear charged with a different weight. Manga references enter spaces marked by collapse and destruction. Children recur throughout, their presence exact and unyielding, marked by wounds that read as both physical and historical. These images do not rely on excess. Their force comes from restraint, from the clarity of detail, from the refusal to soften what stands in front of the viewer.

The dialogue expands through the inclusion of artists such as Ai Weiwei, Keiichi Tanaami, and Magda Kirk. Their works introduce parallel positions, opening new readings while maintaining the intensity of Helnwein’s vision. Together, they form a field where image, memory, and power remain in constant tension.

The programme continues at SOLO CSV, a space conceived by Juan Herreros. Here, large-scale installations and ongoing projects expand the context, including works by Paul McCarthy, Cindy Crawford, and Nikita Diakur. Across more than 4,500 square meters, the space articulates a sustained commitment to artistic production, supported by a collection that exceeds 1,300 works.

What emerges from this constellation carries precision rather than spectacle. Helnwein’s images remain still, yet their impact lingers, pressing quietly against perception.


SOLO Independencia
Pl. de la Independencia, 5, 28001 Madrid