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The World Is Yours Baby | Woodcut for Jonathan LeVine Gallery

Alex Diamond: The World Is Yours BabyMulti-layered, sculptural woodcut. Wood, acrylic paint. Ca. 90 x 65 x 12 cm (35,4” x 25,5” x 4,7”), January 2017 — Alex Diamond: The World Is Yours Baby
Multi-layered, sculptural woodcut. Wood, acrylic paint. Ca. 90 x 65 x 12 cm (35,4” x 25,5” x 4,7”), January 2017

This artwork was created for the inaugural exhibition of the new Jonathan Levine Gallery in Jersey City on February 18, 2017. It is a sculptural, 4-layer woodcut, painted and brushed/sponged with acrylic paint. It was produced in Hamburg at my studio between December 27, 2016 and January 18, 2017.

The artwork tells a story of modern day life, of nature and urbanity, where a cemented world becomes the background for various smaller stories of individual human (and not so human) beings, told with lots of imagination and spurs of absurdity in mind. With the bear and the forest as other key elements, this piece is also about trying to keep a world in balance that seems to become crazier every day.

„The World Is Yours, Baby“, the title of this work, is something you‘d tell someone close to you, to inspire that person to go out and explore, create and grow. But it can also be seen as a challenge or a warning to take on responsibility and be commited.

I stop myself here from going too far into the details of, for example, all those people in the work, even though each and one of them does mean a lot to me. I do not like to give too much insight in my thought process behind my artworks, because I want to leave room to your own story to find its way into the image. One of the reasons I love to work with layers is because they create depth and hidden places, thus building spaces in the artwork that can be taken over by everyones‘ imagination. I hope you enjoy this work as much as I did creating and building it.

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If you are interested in acquiring this work, please contact sales@jonathanlevinegallery.com

The exhibition "Welcome To Jersey" opens February 18, 2017. It features an amazing line-up of artists, and I am very honored to be a part of this very special exhibition amongst Adam Wallacavage, AJ Fosik, Alessandro Gallo, Alexis Diaz, Andy Kehoe, Ashley Wood, Augustine Kofie, Beth Cavener, Camille Rose Garcia, Carlos Ramirez, Chloe Early, Cryptik, Dan Witz, Diego Gravinese, Eloy Morales, Erik Jones, EVOL, Gary Taxali, Haroshi, Hush, Jeff Soto, Jim Houser, Joel Rea, John Jacobsmeyer, Jorg Heikhaus/Alex Diamond, Josh Agle (Shag), Kazuki Takamatsu, Mab Graves, Martin Wittfooth, Mary Iverson, Matt Leines, Matthew Grabelsky, Michael Reeder, Miss Van, Nick Walker, Nychos, Phil Hale, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Tara McPherson and Tristan Eaton.

The Traveller

Something very personal: This is a painted woodcut of my wonderful family, cut after a photo that was taken at a big farewell last year. It is a very special piece that graces our living room now. This is the last work I did in 2016, called "The Traveller".

It is a rather small work (24x30 cm), that is why it doesn't have many details - there is a limit to precision when cutting small pieces of wood, but I love the roughness and reduction of the carved lines here.

(Oh yeah, and no beards on Melvin or me - the original photo was taken in the beard-free phase last summer, and I don't do "cosmetics" on woodcuts 😎😂)

Super(Fat)Heroes III & IV

Two sculptural Woodcuts. Second Edition of the SUPER(FAT)HEROES. These are shown by Galerie Wolfsen in Denmark, please contact Rasmus Fischer to check availability.

Superfathero III: MR TWIGZ (November 2016)
woodcut, acrylic paint, magnets, 46 x 32 cm

Superfathero IV: MRS TWIGZ (November 2016)
woodcut, acrylic paint, magnets, 43 x 34 cm

SUPER(FAT)HEROES

These more "playful" works were created for DON‘T WAKE DADDY XI, the annual super-group -show at Galerie Feinkunst Krüger in Hamburg, curated by Heiko Müller and Ralf Krüger.

They are mounted to the wall using magnets, so they seem to „hover“ in the air like superheroes do. The distance from the wall can be varied depending on how many magnets you place between wall and artwork. The backsides of the works are painted blue & red to have a slightly different shadow.

Check for availability through sales@heliumcowboy.com

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).

Collaboration work: Mist Of Madness - with Jay Olé & Rune Christensen

Jay Olé, Rune Christensen & Alex Diamond: MIST OF MADNESS (2016)30 x 40 cm, paper, acrylic paint, ink, marker, spray paint on woodblock — Jay Olé, Rune Christensen & Alex Diamond: MIST OF MADNESS (2016)
30 x 40 cm, paper, acrylic paint, ink, marker, spray paint on woodblock

This is a collaboration with fellow artists Jay Olé and Rune Christensen for the exhibition MIST OF MADNESS at the heliumcowboy artspace in Hamburg. MIST OF MADNESS is a group show curated by Rasmus Fischer, curator of the Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg (DK).

In addition to the original artwork, this piece was also editioned as a limited silk screen print that was sold at the opening of the exhibition on November 4, 2016. While the original artwork was sold on the vernissage, there may still be a few prints left, please check the heliumcowboy online store if your are interested.

About that drink ... | new woodcuts October 2016

Installation view of the complete series "About that drink ...", October 2016

Four new sculptural woodcuts shown first at the exhibition of„The Dirty Hands Of Alex Diamond“ - a small series dealing with the spirit(s) of drinking. The series is called „About That Drink ...“ and currently features the individual works „Mistress“, „Lover“, „Brother“ and „Saint“. Each work is a stand-alone piece, but can also work in combination with the others.

These works can be mounted on a wall or placed free-standing. You can check availability here.

Temptation and Sin | new woodcut dyptich

Alex Diamond: Gefaellt 775 Mal (2016)Acrylfarbe auf Holzschnitt, 32 x 45 x 5 cm | Instagram users @miss_sophie_photography @laurakokinowa — Alex Diamond: Gefaellt 775 Mal (2016)
Acrylfarbe auf Holzschnitt, 32 x 45 x 5 cm | Instagram users @miss_sophie_photography @laurakokinowa

A new pair of woodcuts for „#gefaelltdas“, my ongoing series of small format woodcuts... another framed dyptich.

It will be shown at an international group exhibition organized by art project Curator19.90 in Beirut this October, curated by Rasmus E. Fischer (Galerie Wolfsen).

The Instagram screenshots I turned into woodcuts are inspired by the users @miss_sophie_photography and @laurakokinowa ... please check out the profiles and follow these great ladies!

The work is available through Galerie Wolfsen, please get in touch with Rasmus if you are interested in these works

Along the banks of Rivers | woodcut

Alex Diamond: ALONG THE BANKS OF RIVERS (2016)woodcut, acrylic paint, 50 x 70 x 3 cm (19.6” x 27.5” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: ALONG THE BANKS OF RIVERS (2016)
woodcut, acrylic paint, 50 x 70 x 3 cm (19.6” x 27.5” x 1.2”)

A very simplified, abstract landscape carved into wood earlier this year. "Along The Banks Of Rivers" is the title of a Tortoise song from 1996. One of my all time favorite pieces of music, and the title for me bears also a significant autobiographical reference - all my life everything of real importance happened while living close to a river ...

New Woodcut for series #gefaelltdas

Alex Diamond: Gefaellt 4.479 Mal (2016)Acrylfarbe auf Holzschnitt, 32 x 45 x 5 cm | Instagram users @myladalbesio @insaanimal — Alex Diamond: Gefaellt 4.479 Mal (2016)
Acrylfarbe auf Holzschnitt, 32 x 45 x 5 cm | Instagram users @myladalbesio @insaanimal

Oh well. Here's finally another pair of my Instagram woodcuts from the series #gefaelltdas. But they're different from the other ones - on one hand, even though both individually are the standard size and all, they belong together and stand in a contextual relationship to each other (so it's a modern diptych). And on the other hand they are uniquely "framed". These frames though are an integral part of the work. I will explain if you ask, but maybe the work process images below already give you an idea.

The Instagram screenshots I turned into woodcuts are by the users @myladalbesio @insaanimal

I never promised you a Rose Garden | woodcut

New 5-layered woodcut, created March–April 2016:

Alex Diamond: I never promised you a Rose Garden (2016)
Multi-layered woodcut, acrylic paint, ca. 80 x 60 x 11 cm (31,5” x 23,5” x 4,5”)

Background

When it comes to superheroes, at some point I will always come back to The Incredible Hulk, whom I‘ve used as a reference in my woodcuts for a few times already over the past years. For me personally there are so many angles to the big green fella that I am sure you will see him appear again in my future woodworks.

But as with most of the figurative elements in my work, I am using the Hulk mostly for his symbolic values: he is torn, powerful, unpredictable, unstable, and in constant soul-searching for the reasons for his being - all strong references to life itself and the daily struggles we often deal with.

However, in this work ... the Hulk is looking down into the golden light that shines from the bluff he is sitting on, and he is ... smiling. Ever so slightly, just a smirk that you only see when standing close to the artwork - but a happy smile it is. It appears that he has made his peace.

For some background trivia: There are two very popular „quotes“ in this woodcut: the Hulk‘s posture resembles Auguste Rodin‘s „The Thinker“, and the title derives from the famous country song „(I never promised you a) Rose Garden“.

The reference to the sculpture is mainly about visual familiarity, putting the Hulk into a less violent and non-agressive environment. All despite the fact that „The Thinker“ originally sits at Rodin‘s„Gates of Hell“ and is definitely not smiling. But he is however also more or less just an observer.

The title from the Joe South country song „(I never promised you a) Rose Garden“ completes my composition and is to be taken pretty literally. Because like most good music, stories and paintings are about the one thing only, this woodcut is also just another love song.

Everything else regarding the stories within this work I am sure you will figure out easily enough ...

#gefaelltdas | New series of 'Instagram' woodcuts

With my latest series of woodcuts, a new project I call '#gefaelltdas', I am exploring modern-day habits of interaction, (self-)reflection, perception and deception, borrowing the imagery as well as the values that we all have become so accustomed to through using Instagram. I am not criticizing social media, being a heavy user of mainly Instagram and Facebook myself. As an artist, curator, collector and gallery owner it has become a part of my daily routine to promote my work and even my lifestyle online.

continue reading below ...

For me creating art is also a very personal way to research and discover, to experiment and proof. It helps me to study and investigate life and the issues we interact with as humans, trying to satisfy my curiosity and to built (or develop) my ‚visual stories‘ upon my findings. I am mostly interested in the social and cultural aspects of the human habitat, and while some things may look supersimple and obvious to others, I have to dig in deep if something excites my ‚artistic instincts‘ until I am personally satisfied.

With ‚#gefaelltdas‘ I am going down the path of interaction, perception and deception, borrowing the imagery that we all have become so accustomed to from Instagram. As with most of my work, during research I am setting some ground rules through iteration to achieve my results. These rules or guidelines are a way of outlining the work I will create in the studio afterwards, which it is a vital part of my sketching process.

For example in the first work of the series (see below) I was narrowing down the principles after which a certain kind of selfie is being composed: shot into a mirror with the smartphone covering the face. The awkward angle of the camera leads to an interesting perspective of the overall picture, with abstract-looking lines in the background. For the following pieces I use these findings and continue to search for something „iconic“ in the imagery in the sense that this is conditioning our behaviour and our viewing patterns. It will always be related to how we compose and consume photography on Instagram, but also, like in the animal images, to the kind of content we devour.

To drive the recognition value of the imagery to the max, I am using the frame of the Instagram posts from the username/handle down to the interactive part and the number of likes, which seem to have turned into a hyper-valued currency these days.

That is why I am naming the artworks after the amount of likes of the source image. And because in the german version of Instagram on my smartphone a „like“ becomes a „gefällt“, the whole series is named ‚#gefaelltdas‘. I actually registered @gefaelltdas , a new Instagram account next to my regular one (@alexxxdiamond), where I will also document the project.

In regards to my distinctive woodcutting technique applied here: because of the smaller size of the woodblocks (18x 24 x 3 cm / 7” x 9.5” x 1.2”), the text becomes a bit choppy and almost unreadable, but everything is actually carved into the wood, while the color is mostly rubbed into the cuts. The pigmenting and painting of these works resembles old russian icon paintings, and while I am not pursuing any religious ideas here, the golden, vintage look and the choice of a „new iconic imagery“ supports the theme.

For updates:

Please check this online-portfolio below. I will update this document when I add new work.

You can inquire about the availability of the individual pieces by clicking the links inside the portfolio. And of course you can check directly here.

And of course please follow my own Instagram at @alexxxdiamond for my latest artworks, photography and nonsense.

The icons | more superheroes

Alex Diamond: Cash Only Motherfucker (2016)acrylic paint, woodcut, 18 x 24 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: Cash Only Motherfucker (2016)
acrylic paint, woodcut, 18 x 24 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”)

Alex Diamond: A Is For Anarchy (2016)acrylic paint, woodcut, 18 x 24 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: A Is For Anarchy (2016)
acrylic paint, woodcut, 18 x 24 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”)

Alex Diamond: The Knight And The Demons (2016)acrylic paint, woodcut, 20 x 20 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: The Knight And The Demons (2016)
acrylic paint, woodcut, 20 x 20 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”)

Click this link to view (and download) the complete ICONS-Portfolio.

Alex Diamond: Long Beard, Hairy Ass (2016)acrylic paint, woodcut, 20 x 20 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: Long Beard, Hairy Ass (2016)
acrylic paint, woodcut, 20 x 20 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”)

The Icons | #girlswithtattoos

Alex Diamond: #girlswithtattoos (2016)acrylic paint, woodcut, 18x24 cm (7” x 9.5” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: #girlswithtattoos (2016)
acrylic paint, woodcut, 18x24 cm (7” x 9.5” x 1.2”)

Love the structure of the wood on this one...
Click the image below or this link to view (and download) the complete ICONS-Portfolio.

Alex Diamond: #girlswithtattoos (2016), acrylic paint, woodcut, 18x24 cm (7” x 9.5” x 1.2”)Click image to view (and download) the complete ICONS-Portfolio. — Alex Diamond: #girlswithtattoos (2016), acrylic paint, woodcut, 18x24 cm (7” x 9.5” x 1.2”)
Click image to view (and download) the complete ICONS-Portfolio.

The Icons | New series of woodcuts

Alex Diamond: The Thing vs. Deadpool (2016)Acrylic paint, woodcut, 20 x 20 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”) — Alex Diamond: The Thing vs. Deadpool (2016)
Acrylic paint, woodcut, 20 x 20 x 3 cm (7.8” x 7.8” x 1.2”)

Here‘s is a new direction in my woodcuts - an open series with various themes and formats, with technique and colors as the one thing in common. The pigmenting and painting of these works resembles old russian icon paintings, and while I am not pursuing any religious ideas here, the golden, vintage look and the choice of iconic characters is a main theme.

Looking at these images in this portfolio, please consider that my work is always rather difficult to document - woodcuts are so much harder to reduce to a Jpeg than a painting or drawing. They are simply never just „flat“ - it is the carving that gives them depth and a very special feel. Even my very own coloring techniques are so hard to see if you are just looking at the pieces on a screen.

It is again very true for this new line of work I am currently creating. These russion-icon-like small-format-heavily-worked-on-blocks-of-wood I am currently creating. They all are rather small, and I love running my fingers over the surfaces of them. They feel almost ancient, and they look different from every angle, and the light changes them depending on where you stand. Or hold them in your hands.

It is a beautiful experience. Well, at least it is a unique experience.

Believe me, I find the process of photographing them and uploading them to the internet pretty frustrating. So much gets lost.

You all should be able to see the originals, feel them, touch them. My work is a very haptic and sensual experience, one that I would love to share with all of you…

PS: These works are available through Galerie Wolfsen .

First show and new artwork in 2016

Alex Diamond: Encounter at 4 am (2015)Multi-layered woodcut, acrylic paint, ca. 150 x 125 x 13 cm (59” x 49” x 12.5”) — Alex Diamond: Encounter at 4 am (2015)
Multi-layered woodcut, acrylic paint, ca. 150 x 125 x 13 cm (59” x 49” x 12.5”)

„Encounter at 4 am“ is a woodcut built from 6 layers in total, and it‘s the deepest I have created to date. It takes us far into a forest for what appears to be a rather unusual encounter between a hunter and some kind of mythical animal, resembling a man and his responsibilities in life. You could say that there are elements of inner conflict, of patience, hesitation, surprise and tension perceptible in the meeting of the two parties.

This encounter in the depth of the woods takes place in the very early hours, when the day still seems to be full of innocence and opportunity. Being an early bird myself, with my days often starting some time between 4 and 5 in the morning, I appreciate the solitude and tranquility of these moments before the world wakes up for its daily grind. It is a time you truly have to yourself. Thoughts spin slower and with more depth. Energy levels are fully charged but only used ... delicately. Creativity arises, ideas are born, but everything‘s still a bit dreamy in a softly distorted way. It is an excellent time for decision making, albeit in a rather lighthearted and slightly irrational way.

This woodcut will be first shown at the exhibition "PULS'16" at Gallery Wolfsen in Aalborg, opening January 9. (link: more info & Facebook event)