A prominent voice within the art world was found dead on Sunday inside her hotel room in São Paulo, Brazil, and many artists are paying tribute to her legacy of commentary.
Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, 40, who gained fame for her satirical commentary in the art world as “Jerry Gogosian” online, was found dead in an incident Brazilian authorities flagged as suspicious, according to a JS translation of Brazilian media outlet G1 Globo.
According to the outlet, Helphenstein had been staying in Brazil for three weeks and was undergoing a cosmetic procedure. A man who identified himself as her surgeon became concerned after she did not respond to his calls. He alerted reception at the five-star Rosewood Hotel, where management went to her room and found her unresponsive. Emergency personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.
Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Wallace Collection
Police noted she was found with pills at the scene, according to the outlet. The hotel noted that it was cooperating with authorities.
“Since the incident, the hotel has provided full collaboration with the competent authorities, promptly providing all the information requested to assist in the investigation,” a spokesperson for Rosewood São Paulo told Hyperallergic.
Helphenstein’s commentary, as Jerry Gogosian, would branch into a Substack newsletter titled The Jerry Report and her podcast, Art Smack. She announced last year that Jerry Gogosian was winding down, noting that she had “so loved and enjoyed being Jerry, but it is time to let it go.”
Her final post, shared over the weekend on Instagram, urged followers to “let the rich woman inside of you fly.” After news of her death broke, the post was flooded with emotional comments from fans.
“An important critical voice in the art world has been lost. No stone unturned, unrestricted by industry politics always ready for an alternative reflection making heavy topics ligt with humor and unpopular opinions,” Dutch artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, known as Studio Drift, commented. “Always a nudge to make all our ego’s a little less bloated. You will be missed.”
Other voices within the art world also shared their own tributes online. Artnet columnist Luning Wang shared thoughts in a post on Instagram.
“The easier path is to sell a dream. The harder path is to tell the truth. Hilde chose the harder one,” Wang wrote. “In an art world driven by markets and relationships, she managed to hold on to a sense of purpose.RIP Hilde. Thank you for your honesty, your humor, and your courage to say what many others would not.”
Ghanaian artist Joseph Nana Kwame Awuah-Darko, better known online as Okuntakinte, called Helphenstein a “true ally” in another post.
Mari Hayman contributed reporting.