Rich paper and black ink and golden acrylic paint, a few detailed works of a smaller kind (31 x 23 cm / 12 x 9 inches), drawn while I was traveling the Atlantic Coast in the west of France this summer. Words from songs that mean something to me, and probably to you, just google the titles, they're not hard to find.
My most recent work: a self portrait, created on the occasion of the Elmar Lause curated group exhibition "Das eigene Ich", which opened May 16 at the new location of the Affenfaust Galerie in Hamburg St. Pauli.
44 artists were invited to present their (inner) selves in self portraits for this show (complete artist line-up and exhibition information below).
This self portrait, created between April 5 and May 9 2015, is a combination of a complex, sculptural woodwork, my trademark woodcutting technique and diverse painting and pigmenting styles. I also used resin in the structure, which not only is a new favorite in my materials palette, but also ads the necessary weight to the piece. The complexity of the work and how it was composed and created over a stretch of four weeks at my studio is an important part of my 'self' within the admittedly unusual portrait. Besides various rather personal narrative elements, followers of my work will not be surprised that there is a double team blowing the clarions, which is also a reference to the 'creation' of the Alex Diamond project over a decade ago.
This work, 170 x 130 x 10 cm large and slightly heavier than your average painting, is titled after a quote (taken out of its original context) from a Mike Patton/Tomahawk composition: 'I owe you a love song / for everything I've done wrong'. This is not necessarily simply an attempted excuse to those who still deserve one (or more) from me, but also a way of understanding the importance of making mistakes and figuring out ways of dealing with them. What could be better than writing a love song whenever you are taking the wrong turn? At the end of the day, when all goes dark, there will be no view. Only music.
This picture gallery below is a small documentation of the process involved creating the work:
'Das eigene Ich'
curated by Elmar Lause
Affenfaust Galerie
Paul-Roosen-Straße 43, Hamburg St.Pauli
www.affenfaust.de
Exhibition from May 16-June 4, 2016
featuring self portraits by these artists:
ALEX DIAMOND, ANYM, BASE 23, BENE ROHLMANN, BJÖRN HOLZWEG, BOJE ARNDT KIESIEL, CARINA CRENSHAW, COCO BERGHOLM, DANIEL FALLER, DANIEL V. EENDENBURG, DAVE THE CHIMP, ELMAR LAUSE, FABIAN WOLF, FLORIAN BREETZKE, FLYING FÖRTRESS, GOLDEN GREEN, HEIKO MÜLLER, HENNING KLES, JANA SCHUMACHER, JAYBO MONK, JOHAN SCHÄFER, JOHANNES MUNDINGER, JULIA BENZ, JULIAN GORTEN, JÖRN STAHLSCHMIDT, KI YOON KO, MAGDA KRAWCEWICZ, MARC BRONNER, MARCO WAGNER, MARCUS SCHÄFER, NONSKI, MYMO, NICOLAS FRÈMION, NIELS DE JONG, NILS KASISKE, NILS KNOTT, PATRICK FARZAR, PATRICK HENNE, PUSH, ROMAN KLONEK, SUSANNE KÖNIG, SYLVIE RINGER, ULI PFORR, VARIOUS AND GOULD, ZIPPER DIE RAKETE.
Exhibition view from the group show "Das eigene Ich" at the new location of the Affenfaust Galerie, Hamburg.
The galleries Feinkunst Krüger, heliumcowboy, Mikiko Sato, Oel-Früh, Kramer Fine Art, and Affenfaust Galerie stand for the variety of Hamburg's art scene for 60 years - well, if you count all the years together that these places exist in Hamburg.
On initiative of the Affenfaust Galerie, from June 13 – July 11 these galleries are jointly showing artists from their individual programs at the exhibition "60 Jahre Kunst in Hamburg".
I am part of the exhibited artists of heliumcowboy gallery, who is showing brand new and yet unseen artworks by Boris Hoppek, Julia Benz, Victor Castillo and David Shillinglaw next to my large sized woodcut "AHAB!" (more info and images here).
Exhibition from: 13.06. – 11.07.2015
Opening hours: Thursday - Friday, 5–9 pm, Saturday & Sunday from 2–6 pm
Location: Affenfaust Galerie, Paul-Rosen-Straße 43, 22767 Hamburg
more information & images
From June 16 - 21 I will be in Basel, showing my woodcuts at the booth of heliumcowboy gallery at the SCOPE Art Fair. heliumcowboy is part of JUXTAPOZ PRESENTS, a curated feature program of selected galleries at the fair. If in Basel, make sure to check out Booth A17 for work by me, Julia Benz and Victor Castillo.
Obviously I will be personally present at the fair, so if you want to meet at the booth - feel free to get in touch.
more: vistor info at scope-art.com
Happy to announce my participation in „Artist for Geberit“, a new project by Geberit and heliumcowboy. You can win my artwork exclusively printed (only once!!!) on the glass surfaces of the Geberit „Monolith“ toilet and washbasin modules - here’s a link to more information and how to take part.
Also I am stoked about the other artists that will be creating work for "Artists for Geberit": Julia Benz & Jeff Soto! Their artwork will follow in July & August (stay tuned).
Below are some images from my designs and the development process as well as some mock-ups with the luxury bathroom elements you can win.
View from the group exhibition #PEEK at heliumcowboy in Hamburg.
Images from the exhibition and the vernissage of #PEEK, an international group show taking place at the heliumcowboy gallery until end of May 2015, can be found online here. The show features the amazing talents of ADAMEVA, Julia Benz, Victor Castillo, Jo Fischer, Boris Hoppek, Elmar Lause and David Shillinglaw and should not be missed if you are in Hamburg. Head over to heliumcowboy.com for visiting times and a lot more images from the opening!
Vernissage photos by Tamara Gries
Okay, here's a new angle ... working with type, working with symbols and techniques found in advertising, working with pop related quotes from TV shows ... I'll venture more into this during this year so keep in touch.
Below are some more details of the work, and If you wish to inquire about availability of this woodcut, please check out this link (to heliumcowboy).
artvergnuegen.com is a new online gallery that was launched just recently. I am honored to be one of the first artists the curators invited for this project, and you can find a long interview and a video feature alongside some of my artwork for sale (exclusively) on the site.
Other artists already on artvergnuegen.de include the likes of Dave the Chimp and Various & Gold, and I have already learned from exciting other names that will be integrated shortly.
Photos & Video © artvergnuegen.de
Freshly online: Two features with insights into my studio and my art. Photo by Lukasz Wolejko-Wolejszo
"A prime mover in Hamburg’s art scene, Jörg Heikhaus remains remarkably down-to-earth. We join the artist, gallery owner and dad for a day in his city to find out more about his unusual practice, his mysterious alter ego, Alex Diamond, and the much-loved heliumcowboy exhibition space."
Great feature about me, my life and my art. And a great way to finding out what's up with heliumcowboy. Plus beautiful studio and Hamburg impressions by photographer Lukasz Wolejko-Wolejszo!
Continue reading here: mb! Magazine (by Mercedes Benz) or here: IGNANT
This is a very special work I have created during December last year live on location at the #heliumcowboytakeover of the Mercedes me Store in Hamburg (read all about this very special art project here).
It's a large painting AND woodcut on a very well crafted lightweight wooden box that was built specifically for this project. The box consists of 2 individual pieces that can be displayed together as a stand alone block (measuring 200 x 180 x 30 cm) or individually as separate hanging wall pieces. During the final week of the #heliumcowboytakeover, fellow artist Elmar Lause painted one side while I was working on the other one. Below are images from the process as well as some details of the work.
My piece is called "AHAB!", and yes, that is a Moby Dick reference combined with a warrior theme, roots growing out of a tree leg and a carved Manga style eye on what appears to be a sheep. I am happy to talk about this work with you over a coffee or drink some time. My shrink may have to be present though ;)
If you are interested in the work, together or individual, please contact me. The box with both artworks is currently displayed at the heliumcowboy artspace, if you are in Hamburg, please arrange for an appointment with the gallery to check it out.
'Hase+Igel', a new 6-color Alex Diamond silkscreen print, is available online here.
Available now at the heliumcowboy online-store: 'Hase+Igel', a high quality limited edition silkscreen print commemorating my 2014 art project "Geberit Water Lounge" for the Stefan Marquard-Restaurant Hase+Igel in Düsseldorf (read more about this here).
Details:
6-color silkscreen print on St. Cuthberts Mill Somerset Paper, Satin 315 msg, 36 x 50 cm
Handprinted by Dolly Demoratti / Motherdrucker.de
Released by heliumcowboy in December 2014, with the kind support of Geberit.
'The mud the blood and the beer' - my T-shirt design for Hamburg based craft brewery Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei is available online (click image to visit the online store).
Those of you who know me most likely are aware of the fact that I have been a fiery advocate for the return of great beer in Germany for a very, very long time. Well, it is happening. What has been aptly labeled as the "Craft Beer Revolution" is in full effect in our country, and I feel privileged to seeing it grow close up from the early beginnings over the past few years.
By now there are many great new brewers and breweries and superb craft beers in Germany. And more will come. However, my favorite brewery is my friend's Oliver Wesseloh's Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei from Hamburg. A lot has been said and published about Olli and his amazing beer, and you can get a glimpse of the praise and attention that the "World Champion of Beer Sommeliers" has been getting lately by visiting the brewmasters' website - or simply google him. He makes sensational beer and taught me many things about my preferred drink.
I am extremely proud that I have been asked to design one of the two very first Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei T-shirts. My design is paying tribute to great beer and some of the coarser circumstances that we like to drink it under, and quotes an all-time favorite Johnny Cash song: 'A boy named Sue'. Maybe a bit hard to read in its (late) 60ies inspired colors and the hand drawn type, the text on the front says "The mud the blood and the beer" - a line from the song.
And you all know I like to get my hands dirty, work hard and fight - and what could be better than already holding a Prototyp or SHIPA in one of them ...
Support the Craft Beer revolution and go get yours, this first edition is pretty rare! There is a limited amount of shirts available at the heliumcowboy online store, but you can also order them via the Kehrwieder Brewery website if the shop should run out of your size.
Klaas Twiemeyer wearing his T-shirt for Kehrwieder Brewery. Also available at their website.
PS: The second Kehrwieder-shirt has been designed by Klaas Twietmeyer (formvermittlung.de), is at least as beautiful as mine and also available at the Kehrwieder website. The shirts are printed by dreihundertprozent.de on fair traded and ecologically correctly grown 100% cotton.
Artwork by Alex Diamond. Left: Animal Inside (Masked Hero #01: Gorilla), right: Animal Inside (Masked Hero #02: Elephant). Multi layered woodcuts, acrylic paint, resin, approximately 45 x 65 x 10 cm (2014) - click images for larger views.
These two new multi layered, sculptural woodcuts will be shown first at the international group show "Don't Wake Daddy IX", opening at Feinkunst Krüger in Hamburg on November 29 (through to December 20).
Curated by Heiko Müller and Ralf Krüger, "Don't Wake Daddy" enters its 9th year. Highfructose Magazin sums it up quite nicely: “Don’t Wake Daddy IX” is a large group show featuring 29 prominent artists influenced by the Low Brow and Pop Surrealism movements. The figurative work in the show largely borrows for pop culture and illustration, focusing on mysterious, bizarre, and often grotesque imagery."
I am very proud to be part of this very prestigious show again, this year alongside the amazing talents of Allison Sommers, Anthony Pontius, Bene Rohlmann, Boje Arndt Kiesiel, Brendan Danielsson, Brendan Monroe, Charlie Immer, Chris Buzelli, Dan Barry, Elmar Lause, Femke Hiemstra, Fred Stonehouse, Gregory Hergert, Heiko Müller, Jon MacNair, Lars Hinrichs, Marco Wagner, Marcus Schäfer, Mark Elliott, Moki, Paul Chatem, Rayk Amelang, Roman Klonek, Ryan Heshka, Scott D. Wilson, Sean Lewis and Susanne König.
More info: Galerie Feinkunst Krüger
Details of the artworks:
I was very honored for being asked to contribute the cover artwork for the famous Mercedes Mixed Tape! The original work I created for the edition #59 was drawn over a very personal photograph, something I usually never do but in this case it was just too tempting to resist: the picture was taken several years ago on a vacation with my family, riding around the beach in our Mercedes Benz 230S (built 1967, in my ownership since 1997).
The music compilation featuring this cover went online November 7, 2014, and can be downloaded here.
Water & sanitation ist most important: 'inside' my work for 'Hase + Igel', a new restaurant by celebrity chef Stefan Marquard in Düsseldorf. With superkind support by Geberit.
© Alex Diamond for Geberit & Hase + Igel
I have been spending some time this summer working on a great project, and this past week I actually went to Düsseldorf to paint on location: at the construction site of 'Hase + Igel', the new restaurant of celebrity chef Stefan Marquard.
Earlier this year I had been asked by Stefan and Geberit, the european market leader in sanitary technology, to develop and execute an artistic concept for the bathroom facilities of the restaurant. The restrooms are equipped with Aqua Clean shower toilets and beautiful, high-end luxury modules by Geberit (called 'Monolith'), which I included in my design, using silkscreen printing on the glass parts. The entry and hallway in front of the bathrooms underwent a massive paint job I did using aerosol (by Montana cans), markers (by Molotow) and acryllic paint (by Lascaux).
Now the whole environment is called the 'Geberit Water Lounge' - and it is absolutely not your average restroom anymore ...
The restaurant will open Saturday, Oct 18, and if you are the area I hope you can check it out. It is definitely a very different culinary and aesthetic experience. And I mean this only in the best way! Stefan Marquard and his whole crew certainly know the meaning of Punk, and are living the Rock'n Roll life, be it in or out of the kitchen ...
Super excited: The video from the exhibition WEAPONS OF MASS SEDUCTION by Victor Castillo & me just launched! Check it out!
A million Thank You's for the exceptional work goes out to master filmmaker Tobias Sundermann and Kool Motion Pictures!!!
And another very big thank you of course to Nitro 17 & Jo Fischer for the Soundtrack!
