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New woodcuts: Animal Inside - Masked Hero #01 and #02

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:

 

Cover art for the Mercedes Mixed Tape #59

My cover artwork for the Mercedes Mixed Tape #59, released November 7, 2014. © Artwork & Photography by Alex Diamond

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.

New project: The Water Lounge for Hase+Igel in Düsseldorf

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

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 ... 

Weapons of Mass Seduction | Video from the exhibition

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!

We ain't in Alaska ... | woodcut, Aug–Sept 2014

Alex Diamond: (We ain‘t in Alaska, but) It appears to me that the dark has a lot more territory.
Multi-layered woodcut, acrylic paint, 120 x 160 x 10 cm (2014)

This is the biggest woodcut to date that I created using multiple layers of wood - these works are very sculptural and deep, but still wall mounted. 'We ain't in Alaska..." took 4 weeks to be completed. As usual with my woodcuts, it is extremely difficult to judge them when you are not looking at the originals - it is very difficult to capture the depth and the craftmanhip involved from a jpeg. Well, here's some more details, they may help.

New woodcuts 2014 | from 'Weapons Of Mass Seduction'

Here are some of the the brand new woodcuts from my joint exhibition 'Weapons Of Mass Seduction' with fellow artist Victor Castillo in Hamburg, September 13–27, 2014.

I have added a special resin to my work materials I am using in my woodcutting, next to the blades and acrylic paint.  

If you are interested in available artworks, please contact sales@heliumcowboy.com

Name one thing in this world that is not negotiable

Alex Diamond: Name one thing in this world that is not negotiable.
Woodcut, acrylic paint, resin, 50 x 70 x 3cm (2014)

I've been at peace with that for a very long time

Alex Diamond: I‘ve been at peace with that for a very long time.
Woodcut, acrylic paint, resin, 50 x 70 x 3cm (2014)

Just gotta look a man in his eyes. It's all there.

Alex Diamond: Just gotta look a man in his eyes. It‘s all there.
Woodcut, acrylic paint, resin, 50 x 70 x 3cm (2014)

Black Hole Sun I & II

Alex Diamond: Black Hole Sun I
Woodcut, acrylic paint, resin, 40 x 40 x 3 cm (2014)

Alex Diamond: Black Hole Sun II
Woodcut, acrylic paint, resin, 30 x 40 x 3 cm (2014)

Sept 13: Weapons of Mass Seduction | Exhibition with Victor Castillo

I am very happy to announce my upcoming exhibition WEAPONS OF MASS SEDUCTION at heliumcowboy, featuring the first team-up show with Victor Castillo.

This exhibition opens September 13, 7 - 11 pm, at a temporary space in the beautifully restored Holstenhof (right around the corner from the heliumcowboy gallery space).

Exhibition runs from September 13 - 27, 2014, the opening hours during the exhibition will be announced soon.

Additionally, heliumcowboy partners with Reeperbahn Festival and will hold another public reception on Wednesday, September 17, from 7 - 11 pm.

Here's the link to the facebook event, and here's some more information:

“‘Weapons Of Mass Seduction’ is the title of the first joint exhibition of Victor Castillo and Alex Diamond (aka Jörg Heikhaus). When the two first met in 2006, Heikhaus, the founder of heliumcowboy, started to represent Victor with his gallery exclusively in Germany.

But their relationship grew larger than that, and became a friendship, and so they started developing a concept for a joint exhibition. The idea took shape when they discovered that they both share the same orientation of their artistic content: Even if they use different materials and styles to express their art (painting/Victor Castillo vs. woodcuts/Alex Diamond), they both understand themselves as visual storyteller in a pop cultural world. One very important element in both their work is the topic of seduction, their artwork deciphering the perceptual overload in everyday life. This way they uncover the seduction everyone is exposed to daily through media, social events and politics. The title of the exhibition is a direct reference to this shared approach.

’Weapons Of Mass Seduction’ is the first exhibition which gets together these two artists. The concept is developed between Los Angeles and Hamburg, the cities where Castillo and Diamond live. In order to emphasize the specific characteristic of this joint exhibition, “Weapons Of Mass Seduction“ is not shown in the space of heliumcowboy, but in an amazing location around the corner: a brand new store in the Holstenhof , a freshly renovated Art Nouveau building (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 79-87, thanks to the kind support of ALSTRIA Office REIT AG).”
— heliumcowboy.com

These are some of the brand new works Victor and I will be showing:

Victor Castillo: Smoke in the Shadows, Acrylic on canvas, 86 x 76 cm (2014)

Alex Diamond: I've been at peace with that for a very long time, Acrylic, Resin, Woodcut, 50 x 70 x 3 cm (2014)


TARGET.PRACTICE | New woodcuts for MILLERNTOR GALLERY

I have created two new woodcuts, to be shown at MILLERNTOR GALLERY #04, opening Thursday, May 29. MILLERNTOR GALLERY is a social art gallery, organized by Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli and the football club FC St. Pauli and is held annually at the Millerntor Stadium in Hamburg.

In 2012, I took part in this great project for the first time as an artist, installing the large wooden installation "WIPE OUT". For last years' MILLERNTOR GALLERY #03, instead of showing my own work I was running the arts programme as artistic director with my gallery heliumcowboy. In 2014, I passed the torch on, and instead of managing all artist and exhibition related activities and processes, returned with my artwork. These two, called TARGET.PRACTICE #1 & #2, to be precise. They were created in the weeks before the opening and were made specifically for the show, partly because they are interactive pieces ... (see below). 

Please visit the website of the MILLERNTOR GALLERY and see the full program from May 29 - 31.

TARGET.PRACTICE #01 | woodcut, acrylic paint, mirror;  78 x 62 x 3 cm (2014)

TARGET.PRACTICE #02 | woodcut, acrylic paint, mirror;  74 x 62 x 3 cm (2014)

Here are some more images from those works. You may get the idea of why I was using a mirror in these instead of an intricate inner woodcut in the second layer ...  (hint: #selfie)

Too old to die young | woodcut, Febuary 2014

'Too old to die young' | woodcut, acrylic paint, 105 x 85 x 10 cm (41,5 x 33,5 x 4 inches), 2014.
Check availability here (via heliumcowboy)   

In my recent quest to adding even more visible depth and traditional craftsmanship into my woodcuts, I've been vanishing these past weeks in my workshop cutting and carving and painting this rather complex piece of work (and while it may be based upon a photo of mine it is NOT intended to be a self-portrait ...) 

It is my most recent take on contemporary culture and its recurring recognition patterns, which also includes the usage of claims (such as 'Too old to die young'). In these works, I am referencing the constant recycling, reliving and reinventing of major elements of past (youth) cultural & political movements into our current, very modern, brand driven times. 

This is the second artwork I've created in this manner since late last year ('You were born inside my heart' being the first, check this link), and this will mark the direction I am currently taking working forward to my joint exhibition with my dear friend Victor Castillo in September 2014 in Hamburg. More information on this very special show will be released shortly.

If you are interested in the availability of this artwork, please visit heliumcowboy.  

'Too old to die young' & 'You were born inside my heart' (more information)
check availability of these artworks here

Taking shots.

© Alex Diamond 2013

Having worked as professional photographer early in my career, today I am getting behind the camera only infrequently in my art work, for example as part of mixed media pieces. Like the 'Photodrawings'  - where I ink (and sometimes paint) directly onto my own photography which I stage only for the purpose of drawing over it afterwards. 

The final artwork: woodcut 'You were born inside my heart' (more info)

And from time to time when I start out on a new work and I just need to get closer to an idea, pose or gesture that is in my head, I enter the creative process with a photo shooting to compose reference images for carving or painting.

For 'You were born inside my heart', I've worked with one of my favorite regular models, Natascha Seebacher, a young fashion designer and dressmaker from Hamburg (Taesh), to get my idea into shape. A shape I then used as a reference for the female figure in this woodcut. altering features along the way that I think match my composition and 'story' for the artwork.

Besides the original reference image Natascha and I created, below are some outtakes from the camera time. 

You can follow Natascha's ventures into the fashion designer world here. 

@ Alex Diamond

@ Alex Diamond

@ Alex Diamond

@ Alex Diamond

© all images Alex Diamond 2013

Click here for more images from the final, three layered woodcut  'You were born inside my heart'

You were born inside my heart | woodcut, Dec 2013

You were born inside my heart
(3-dimensional) woodcut, acrylic paint, 90 x 80 x 10 cm (2013)

This is a pretty new direction within my woodcuts: it‘s going three dimensional ... adding depth through installing several layers of cut out and carved wood on top of each others.

,You were born inside my heart‘, a 90 x 80 x 10 cm large, three-layer-woodcut was created just in time for Jim Avignon‘s group exhibition „Happy hour at the Hypnotist“ opening December 7, 2013, at the legendary NEUROTITAN in Berlin-Mitte.

If you can't make it to Berlin, it may be available here.

'Message in a Bottle' at SCOPE Miami

I have been invited by Lori Zimmer, founder of the ART NERD universe and New York based author and curator, to participate in a very special project for the SCOPE Miami art fair taking place this December.

For 'Message in a Bottle', a group exhibition featuring an amazing line-up of artists including Ron English, Beau Stanton, Tara McPherson, Shark Toof, Molly Crabapple, Kenny Sharf and David Shillinglaw (to name a few), Lori will convert the booth of Quattlebaum Foretich Gallery (Hamptons) with a maritime theme (quote): 

"'Message in a Bottle' explores the romantic history of blindly throwing messages to sea, leaving it to the hands of fate to deliver them to their intended recipient. Visitors are invited into a maritime ship chandlery, where contemporary artists have created their own message for the ages, captured inside bottles and waiting to be unlocked by their new owners. A special animation by Beau Stanton will further the seafaring fantasy."

So, here's a little image documentation of how I tackled the theme and the interesting technical challenge I faced getting woodcuts inside the bottles ... 

The messages in the bottles are of course the little woodcuts and the story they tell.

However, I have included tiny letters in the base of the bottles. Right at the bottom, underneath the woodchips (which, by the way, come from the carvings in the bottles, had to add some from other works too, but only a few ).

To read this messages, the buyer would have to break open the bottles which will most likely never happen. So the text on these messages will forever be my secret… unless … someone owning the bottle really gets too curious … I guess an ‘artist created-Message in a bottle’ will in most cases will fail its purpose, because if there should be, (for example) a cry for help bottled up inside, no one will ever come to the aid, cos the artwork is of much more value if unopened? 

We'll see ... 

PS: Needless to say, I have been using bottles previously containing the social water of Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli e.V. ... 

EXIT | Special project for GUDBERG

EXIT. (2013)

Base: Part of ,Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg‘; woodcut, acrylic paint, paper.
© Alex Diamond 

This is a commissioned work for an artist-edition project by fine art publisher and gallery GUDBERG (Hamburg) and ,Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg‘, the largest model railway in the world.

The base for this work is a 20 x 20 cm cutout of a part of the model. These pieces are given to  various artists to modify and turn into something else. This is my take on the project, and it comes with a reference to the smartest artist of the world.

For purchase information or more about this project check with GUDBERG (link).

'RAGE' | WOODCUT, OCT 2013

Rage. (or: Don't wake Schacke)

woodcut, acrylic paint, 30 x 40 x 3 cm (2013)

*UPDATE: This work was recently re-named to ,Don‘t wake Schacke‘, just my tribute to one of the finest guys in the universe.

 

After finishing the first woodcut involving The Incredible Hulk (read more), which was supposed to be a one-off created for the annual exhibition ,Don‘t Wake Daddy‘, the most prestigious international Low Brow-Gallery show in Germany at Feinkunst Krüger (Dec 2013), I got restless & hooked on the topic ... and went straight back to the studio to come up with this one. While the first work (,Don‘t get me started‘) is rather ,soft spoken‘ despite the anger represented in The Hulk, this one is rather wild and furious in every aspect of the painting. 

The title of the work, as in most of my recent woodcuts, is written within one of the many background layers I start out with when prepping the foundation for this kind of paintings and, as usual, hard or impossible to read once the work is finalized. Here, I have been working with the contradiction and built-in frustration found in the stronghold that we believe we need to build around us in order to protect our true feelings (and furthermore to keep control over the incontrollable), which eventually leads to rage: ,How do you say FUCK OFF and I LOVE YOU in one painting?‘

The Hulk, however, has no ability to hold back his anger, and to (often falsely) control the feelings that ignite rage. Thus said, in this work he is most likely one of the rare possible artistic depictions of emotions as irritating as the title suggests. 

Some more detail images from the work below, because unfortunately woodcuts are difficult to be shown properly in digital (or, for that matter, printed) form. At the end of the day, they are pretty haptic and  can only be properly apprehended (and probably even appreciated) when confronted live and personal.

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