Helen

The portrait of a woman with a mutilated, hollowed out face, covered with a blood red giclée, Helen transforms the classic painted bust into a macabre sight. The horror of this bleeding face, however, is what animates this collage of grey tones, in sharp contrast with the bright white cross that surmounts it.

Helen is one of Llyn Foulkes’ “bloody heads”, a series of tormented portraits he began in 1970 at a time of intense introspection that still continues today. Using as subjects of his works personalities from the world of politics, the military or entertainment, the faces created by Foulkes form an increasingly harsh social satire of the United States.

Created in 2011, Helen is a poignant work by Llyn Foulkes, who shifts criticism to a religious ground. Part of the Pinault Collection, the work was first shown at the 2013 “Prima Materia”(“Raw Material”) exhibition at the Punta della Dogana.