Alex Diamond: Philomena (2019)
Woodcut and acrylic paint, 100 x 7 x 3 cm
Just presented the first three works of my new series at the exhibition “X Jahre Kunst in Hamburg” at the Affenfaust Galerie in Hamburg, next to the beautiful paintings of Jens Rausch.
Next exhibition is at the heliumcowboy gallery opening December 6, 2019, featuring work by Winnie Truong, Various & Gould, Rasmus Rinhack, Jaybo Monk, Fabian Wolf, Victor Castillo, Jens Rausch, Rune Christensen and Jon Todd.
A little update from my new series ... the special and new thing with this one is that I am working really colorful and that I am using my woodcutting technique to bring out different layers of colors in the work itself after I’ve painted over it .. well, it may not make sense in words, but then again most art doesn’t, so I hope these pictures help.
I am going to show the first few works of this series at "X Jahre Kunst in Hamburg"** Nov 14-17 at the Affenfaust Galerie in Hamburg (Vernissage Nov 14 at 7 pm).⠀⠀
** [ "X Jahre Kunst in Hamburg" is an annual group show of several Hamburg art galleries in the huge space of the Affenfaust Galerie . I will show with heliumcowboy alongside my dear friend Jens Rausch. Other galleries in the show:Feinkunst Krüger, Galerie Kai Erdmann, heliumcowboy, Galerie Oel-Früh, xpon-art, Oberfett, Evelyn Drewes I Galerie, Gudberg Nerger Gallery, Affenfaust Galerie ]
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.
