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No flag

November 3, 2020

Allright, it’s time for another politically infused (or rather inflamed) painting, this one here is a brand new Flaum van Kreuzen that I have been working on and off for some weeks now, aptly titled

NO FLAG

and still unavailable at the moment, as I am not sure if I will continue working on it after the coming night. It might need more rage, but maybe it also needs a bit more healing powers, let’s see how it all goes down on this rough day. One good thing about my van Kreuzen-project is that there are no other goals for these works than the process of creation itself. If that makes sense.

Now dear people with their brains still attached to the values of humanity and democracy - go put an end to the shit show. The world deserves a break.

On the other side of the storm

I have carved these waves for over ten years, inspired by the grandmasters of the japanese woodcut like Hiroshige or Hokusai. This year I return a bit to these more straightforward and clean works, in an even more reduced color palette (one in the backgound plus the wood).

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORM
Part 2 of a series of 4 woodcuts
Wood, acrylic paint, 40 x 30 x 3 cm (2020)

This is from a series of original artworks I am creating for my ongoing collaboration with Geberit.

Places I write ...

So yeah, there is a lot of writing these days. I really prefer to write up north in the old farm house in (what I call) #cowboyland, but I still spend a lot of my time in Hamburg and yes, it is pretty great here in my studio at heliumcowboy as well, so I try to get some pages done here too.

Chapter one to three are ready, I am pleased with the flow of things and couldn't be happier for being able to write down my story, well the story of Alex Diamond. The book will be a big and beautiful art book, of course, but it will also be an autobiography, which is a great honor to be able to write and the experience of going back so many years and remember all those moments and stories is just beautiful .

This will take a longer time, for sure. And the gallery will not be as busy as before, during this period at least. But I'll keep doing the podcast and my art and might also be working with a few artists so there will always be something to look at and / or talk about at heliumcowboy - you are of course welcome to check in.

We plan something for April 3, when there is the next "Rundgang" of the Galerien in der Neustadt . Also Melvin might be up to something, so stay tuned.

Thank you for supporting me and everything that heliumcowboy stands for!

hugs/Jörg

PS: The book will be designed by Jan Müller-Wiefel and published by Gudberg Nerger Verlag. We are aiming for summer/fall 😉

PPS: This is not an advertisement 'cos I pay for my shit, but the shirt I am wearing is the 25 year anniversary shirt of the legendary RIDER’S ROOM in Hamburg (a colab with Pike Brothers Superior Garments ), so shoutout to Sven and Olli and the whole team for keeping it tight since 1995 ...

Happy New Year and the final drawings ...

Allright. So here we are, the year 2020 is pretty young, and so I think a Happy New Year is still in order! ❤️

Here’s a little update on last years’ project “The Daily Drawings of Alex Diamond”: I finished drawing number 100 in December 2019. I might continue with something similar in 2020, we’ll see, but this part of the project is closed now.

There's been a lot of requests lately, and most of them are gone now. This is humbling and beautiful, and in case you still want one - here is what is left (status while writing this post), and here you can find all 100 of them.

I will however produce the 2nd mini catalogue shortly (Nr. 1 was from drawing #001 – #050, Nr. 2 will be from #051 – #100). I took the liberty to frame them all and change the price a bit: they are 99 € (framed and with free catalogue Volume 1).

Still way too cheap if you ask me, except maybe for the number #100! If you want that - that’ll be 999 €.

Why? Well, because it is and alway will be the rarest one. 😉

New label for Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei

Always happy like a little child on Christmas when I hold one of the beers by Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei with a new label created by me in my hands! The latest one is for FOFFTEIN, a blonde Ale that Oliver Wesseloh created jointly with Dominik Großefeld, the owner of the legendary St. Pauli bar Silbersack as their house brew.

It is the most-Hamburg-related label I created for Kehrwieder so far, and I am superhappy with the result. And the beer is super nice as well, as always with the beers that master brewer and beer artist Oliver produces!

Enjoy responsibly!

Hands and carburetor by my buddy Mario Kleinschmidt / Kleinschmidt Kustoms.

The Love Me Or Die - Launch delayed by authorities

Unfortunately there is no really satisfying update on the delay of the launch of our 2018 artist beer edition "The Love Me Or Die". This years' collaboration brew with Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei is still on hold at the german authorities, bureaucracy ist preventing us from selling it until we get the necessary okay on the paperwork back.

We are very sad about this, not just because this is a passion project of master brewer Oliver Wesseloh & Alex Diamond that took a very long time to realize, but also because this is a more or less uncommercial project that only costs us money as long as we can't move the product. You can pre-order the beer boxes by mail, but that is all we can offer at the moment (please send a note to info@heliumcowboy.com if you are interested).

Please stay with us, we'll let you know once the beer is going to market. It will at some point, but until then we still have to haggle with the - hold your breath, english speaking friends - "Behörde für Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz Hamburg, Fachbereich Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelsicherheit" ...

In the press: SZENE Hamburg

Proud and grateful to be featured in the December edition of SZENE Hamburg. THANK YOU!

In the press: DER HAMBURGER

The new issue of Der Hamburger is out at the newsstands now and features a very nice portrait of me, written by Jörg Fingerhut, with photos by Julia Schwendner (ThisIsJulia Photography). Besides of course many other great stories from and about the beautiful city of Hamburg.

Trophy for HANS Award - der Hamburger Musikpreis

The "Diamond Cassette Player" - woodcut, painting and sculpture combined for the 2016 HANS Music Award-Trophy.

I had the honor to create this year's trophy for the music award HANS der Hamburger Musikpreis. It is an annual award, each year the organizers invite an artist to create a unique trophy. The only prerequisite: the rectangle and 3-dimensional format. The trophies will not be reproduced but are originals for each category. A big job when you have to create 11 trophies ... but a beautiful one as well. I had lots of fun coming up with my very own version of a classic cassette player ... the Alex Diamond Portable Tape Recorder!

Just thinking about who now has an original Diamond on their trophy shelve at home makes me feel very proud! The winners: Beginner (they won in three categories), Music Icon and Legend Udo Lindenberg, Haiyti aka Robbery, Johannes Oerding, FARHOT and Folkert Koopmans. (Hope it's not just going to be firewood ...)

Thank you Uriz Von Oertzen and your team for the support and to show host Lukas Nimscheck for the nice interview on the historic music stage at the Markthalle Hamburg!

Below are some images and a short video - as I was also given the opportunity to talk about the work live on stage at the event (in german).

The Dirty Hands Of Alex Diamond: Release exhibition

The Dirty Hands Of Alex Diamond meet the REAL dirty hands of Alex Diamond ...

We successfully launched THE DIRTY HANDS OF ALEX DIAMOND, the limited edition artist beer I created with Oliver Wesseloh from Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei in Hamburg - you can read the story behind it here.

I embedded the presentation of the beer into a small solo exhibition at the heliumcowboy gallery, combining some brand new, never seen before woodworks with other important pieces of mine. The exhibition is on display until October 29, Thursday–Saturday 2–7 PM (Bäckerbreitergang 75, 20355 Hamburg).

You can purchase the limited edition beer box directly at at heliumcowboy or in the galleries' online store.

Below are some images from this exhibition and from the fantastic night of the opening (by Frank Meyer, jumpallintheair.com).

THE EXHIBITION

THE LAUNCH PARTY

Wohnidee Suite: My drawings for the Bohemian Loft at the Radisson

Here's something different: My drawings on bathroom furniture in a Hotel Suite for a nice project with Geberit, Keramag, Wohnidee Magazine & JOI-Design at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cologne.

Read more about this in the Wohnidee Magazine (sorry, german only).

Now on youtube: clubkinder artist talk at heliumcowboy

Im ersten Teil unserer neuen Reihe spricht der Hamburger Künstler Jörg Heikhaus aka Alex Diamond über sich und seine Arbeit. Als Urgestein der Hamburger Kunstszene teilt er seine Beobachtungen und Einschätzungen zur aktuellen Situation der Kunst und des Kunstmarktes in Hamburg mit uns. Durch den Abend führen der Clubkinder e.V.

In case you missed it live at the heliumcowboy gallery or on TV last Sunday - here's the full video from the clubkinder artist talk with me, which was held on January 22 at our gallery. I was interviewed by Jannes Vahl, founder of the social organization clubkinder e.V., which supports social projects in Hamburg. Jörg donated one of his trademark Alex Diamond-photodrawings (see here), which was auctioned for the benefit of Sport ohne Grenzen e.V., a youth basketball project in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg.

Here is part 2 with the Q&A by the auditorium:

The artist talk is a new program at heliumcowboy. Together with clubkinder e.V. and TIDE TV, we will hold regular artist talks at our space that are beeing screened on TV and streamed online.

In the press: Alex Diamond for 'Artists for Geberit' | Win exclusive bathroom luxury edition

Feature in german magazine 'Places of Spirit' about my exclusive art edition for the project 'Artists for Geberit'.

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.

Alex Diamond on Artvergnuegen.com

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.

artvergnuegen.com

In the press: Feature in MB! Magazine & IGNANT

Freshly online: Two features with insights into my studio and my art. Photo by Lukasz Wolejko-Wolejszo — 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

In the press: "Weapons Of Mass Seduction" in Hi Fructose Magazine

Great preview of "Weapons of Mass Seduction", my joint exhibition with Victor Castillo opening September 13 at heliumcowboy in Hamburg by Hi Fructose Magazine.

Click image to read the article at Hi-Fructose.com

More: Here's the link to the facebook event, and here's some additional information.