Friday, April 25, 2008

surprised recognition

"You can't show anyone anything he hasn't seen already, on some level - any more than you can tell anyone anything he doesn't already know. It is the function of the artist to evoke the experience of surprised recognition: to show the viewer what he knows but does not know that he knows. Helnwein is a master of surprised recognition." William Burroughs.
"Untitled" by Gottfried Helwein, from ZYZZYVA, Spring '06.

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